Stourbridge gran left with half a skull after bus crash

Deborah Davies, 56, was left in a critical condition and suffered severe brain damage after the crash.

She survived, but life-saving surgery for a bleed on her brain left her without half of her skull - before it was replaced with a metal plate.

Driver Surjeet Singh Pal, 57, lost control of his vehicle and mounted the pavement in Stourbridge last year, crashing into Mrs Davies from behind and sending her flying into a gutter.

Her husband Mr Davies, 58, claims the bus driver has 'ruined their lives'.

However Singh Pal, who is understood to have driven onto the pavement when approaching a bend, received only a £175 fine and a six-month driving ban from Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

He must also reapply for his licence from the DVLA.

Even though causing death by dangerous driving carries a maximum penalty of five years, there is no law that covers the offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Retired engineer Mr Davies last night lashed out at the sentence and said: "It's appalling. It's no punishment at all.

"He has ruined our lives and he gets to walk free.

"If he had killed her, he would have had a more severe punishment, but then I would have lost my wife. It's a lose-lose situation.

"My son said if he were to collect three speeding tickets he would be more severely punished than the driver.

"Deborah went from being a vibrant and vivacious young grandmother to being solely dependent on me and our family.

"She is now merely existing. She has such a poor quality of life compared with the one she planned for and we built together.

"She is living a life sentence while the driver who did this to her can put everything behind him and continue living his life.

"I am disgusted and dismayed there is not provision in law to adequately reflect the catastrophic, irrevocable damage this incident has done, both to Deborah physically as well as our lives as a family."

Mr Davies, 58, witnessed the accident along with one of their five grandchildren.

They were on their way to complete a purchase on a dream home so they could move closer to their daughter and grandchildren when the bus struck.

An ambulance crew that were two vehicles behind rushed out and immediately administered first aid, without which Deborah would have died.

He said: "It was a lovely sunny day and we were walking along three-abreast, my wife closest to the road.

"We were just going to give in the final but of paperwork, and it was exciting as it was what we both wanted.

"All of a sudden she went flying through the air and landed in the gutter. It was awful.

"Without the ambulance crew right there she would have died. She could not have held on and waited for one to arrive."

Despite being in a critical condition, she pulled through.Following the incident on May 22 last year, Mrs Davies was placed into an induced coma for a week.

She sustained severe brain damage with lead to a clot on the brain. She required life-saving surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

She also suffered a broken neck, fractured cheek, broken ribs and a punctured lung in the collision.

Mrs Davies returned home on October 2016 to await a craniotomy to replace part of her missing skull with a metal plate.

However, the couple may need to move from their new home to an adapted house, due to the level of care she requires.

Mrs Davies is no longer able to look after her beloved grandchildren, visit friends for walk her miniature schnauzer Archie.