Declan Mahoney, then 20, was playing rugby with friends in Mountain Ash railway station in South Wales, when 18-year-old Lexi Dyas smashed her Fiat 500 into him.
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Shocking footage shows the moment a thoughtless driver crashed into a man at high speed and sent him flying into the air because she was talking to a passenger.
Declan Mahoney, then 20, was playing rugby with friends in Mountain Ash railway station in South Wales, when 18-year-old Lexi Dyas smashed her Fiat 500 into him.
The aspiring nurse can be seen swerving into Mr Mahoney as he tries to move out the way, with the impact spinning him into the air as his shocked pals watched on in horror.
Mr Mahoney landed on his back and was taken to Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Talbot Green with a fractured finger, arm and leg following the incident in July 2024.
Dyas told police she had been distracted behind the wheel while speaking with a friend and claimed the crash was an "accident".
Last week, the now 19-year-old driver was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders’ institution after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Andrew Davies, prosecuting, said: “She indicated it was an accident, which occurred because she was not concentrating. She said she didn’t have a grudge against Declan Mahoney at all.
“She said she thought Declan had run the opposite way to her car, and the next thing she knew she hit him.”
Cardiff Crown Court heard Dyas could not offer any explanation to why she swerved the car.
Emma Harris, defending, said Dyas "felt terrible" about her actions.
But Mr Mahoney, now 21, claimed the defendant had shown him "no remorse" in the wake of the incident.
He described how the crash had left him struggling to cope with daily life in a victim impact statement read out to the court.
"I have been struggling mentally and it’s had a big impact on every aspect of my life," he said.
"I am nervous to leave the house and have been unable to sleep at all due to the physical stress and pain in my leg.
"The pain is so bad it’s still been affecting me for months. I still rarely leave the house for fear and anxiety of having something else happen to me. It’s a daily struggle.
"My mother has been supporting me and pushed me back to speak to the doctor who prescribed me with PTSD as a result of this incident. I have scars on both of my shins, ankle, and above my eyebrow."
Judge Recorder Christian Jowett sentenced Dyas to 18 months and banned her from driving for two years and nine months.
He told Dyas: "You used excessive speed when you drove deliberately and directly at Mr Mahoney."
