Rebecca McManus tragedy: I did not know my friend was dead for weeks
The childhood friend of a woman who was killed by a speeding driver has spoken of her 'struggle' to cope on a blog.
Rebecca McManus, 21, was killed at a bus stop by Sukvinder Mannan who was racing another driver at 100mph.
Harriet Barnsley spent three months in a coma after the fatal crash.
Mannan, 34, of Roundhills Road, Halesowen, was jailed for eight years in December 2015.
On her blog, titled 'This Too Shall Pass', Harriet has written of her efforts to recover from the crash.
She was in a coma for five weeks after the horrific smash on Hagley Road West.
Harriet said she was not informed of Rebecca’s death for weeks after the crash on May 31 in 2014, writing: “I had a feeling that something was wrong, because she didn’t visit me during the three months I spent in hospital.
“I wondered why, but didn’t have the energy to ask.
"When my parents eventually told me, I didn’t really understand. I don’t remember any point at which the news sank in.
“It was more of a gradual realisation, which I think made it easier to handle.”
Despite the serious hurdles she has had to overcome since the crash, Harriet has tried her best to remain upbeat.
She wrote: “I don’t sit there and moan about how unfair it is.
“Very simply, because I lived to tell the tale. Why waste that?
“Fine, I have my down days, don’t we all? I also have my up days, and sometimes, they are insane.
“I am alive. I am so alive.”
Mr McManus said he did not want other families to experience the same pain he had because of the actions of dangerous drivers.
He said: “When things go wrong the consequences are enormous at these speeds.
"Anything over 50mph and the road users that get hit haven’t got much of a chance.
“Families who have to go through losing somebody in a fatal collision – it stays with them for the rest of their lives.”
“Many families are devastated and they are all preventable.”
