My sister's screams were the worst part - Horror as bride-to-be hit by car hours before wedding

But as she and her brother Tim finished loading his car ready for her to start a new life as a married woman, everything changed in an instant.

Both were badly injured when a car ploughed into them as they stood at the back of Tim's Ford Fiesta, which was parked on Stubbs Road, Penn Fields, Wolverhampton near her flat.

Katie was airlifted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, while her brother was taken to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital where he was recovering today.

Katie had recently left her job as a teacher at the city's New Park School, Tettenhall Wood, and was preparing to leave Wolverhampton for the final time before starting a new life in Lancaster with fiancé, psychiatrist Dr Michael Birtwistle.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Tim told the Express & Star: "We were loading the car and putting stuff in the boot.

"The last thing we put in was my sister's wedding dress. I put it in the car and she came to stand next to me and I just said 'That'll be OK'. The next thing we know – bang.

"Within seconds you understand you've been hit by a car.

"It was just a big bang and I remember going forward, my car being pushed forward and I fell onto the road.

"My sister staggered and then fell over on the grass by the pavement.

"I could just hear my sister screaming. I was slipping in and out of conciousness, but I knew I'd broken my leg because it was a mess and numb. I didn't know how badly injured I was, but I feared I was really badly injured.

"The worst thing for me was my sister screaming – I could hear she was in pain but I couldn't get to her. She was calling out to me and we couldn't get to one another to see how we were. That was the worst thing about it."

Tim told how two women from a nearby car rushed to the scene and comforted him and his sister, saying prayers for the stricken pair.

Katie was able to phone parents Crispin and Eileen, who live minutes away in Woodfield Avenue.

Tim recalled: "They were expecting to see us in Lancaster, but my sister rang them and said 'me and Tim have been hit by a car'.

"They arrived to see both their kids collapsed on the road so it's been deeply traumatic as well.

"I kept saying to people it's going to be my sister's wedding day and this has ruined everything. I thought I was going to die. It really is scary." Tim, of Monmore Grange, was taken to New Cross Hospital where he has had undergone blood transfusions and surgery on his broken femur and collarbone.

Katie, a former teacher at Woodfield Avenue School in Penn, had a deep laceration to her right leg, damaging muscles. She had surgery to stop internal bleeding.

She is now facing cosmetic surgery to repair damage to her right leg caused by the operation, and will also need physiotherapy. Katie, who had been looking forward to honeymooning in Turkey and Cyprus, is now using a wheelchair and crutches as she recovers at her parents' house. She said: "I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and my family. I've been truly overwhelmed by the generosity and care that everyone has shown."

Tim, who works as a communications officer in the chief executive's office at Wolverhampton City Council, said: "We have escaped with our lives.

Had we been bending into the car, the other car would probably have hit our spines and it doesn't bear thinking about. It certainly puts things into a whole different perspective. Life changes just like that.

"One minute everything was fine. I was going to be very proud to be an usher on my little sister's wedding day.

"Then this was completely out of the blue. I didn't see it coming, I didn't hear it coming, and now I can't walk. Hopefully I'll regain full mobility."

Tim thanked friends, family and staff at New Cross for their support and said he was determined to make a full recovery.