Pictured: Elderly woman, 81, in coma who was hit by police bike escorting Duchess of Edinburgh and thrown ’40ft across the road’ is named by family as Helen Holland
- Helen Holland was ‘thrown 40 feet across the road’ when being hit by motorbike
An 81-year-old woman who is in a coma after being hit by a police bike escorting the Duchess of Edinburgh has been pictured and named by family as Helen Holland.
Ms Holland was ‘thrown 40 feet across the road’ after being struck by a motorbike, an eyewitness claimed.
The tragedy happened at the junction of West Cromwell Road and Warwick Road in Earl’s Court, west London, on Wednesday afternoon.
Her son and daughter-in-law Martin and Lisa-Marie Holland said they were ‘shocked and sickened’ at her injuries.
They added: ‘She is being well cared for by the who we must thank deeply.’
An 81-year-old woman who is in a coma after being hit by a police bike escorting thw Duchess of Edinburgh has been pictured and named locally as Helen Holland [Family handout]
Witness Martin Hennessy, 62, told the Mirror: ‘She’s lucky to be alive at all. The road is a nightmare.
‘When you get to the junction you have to step out to see if anything is coming, that’s when she was hit.
‘She’d been thrown across the road and the ambulance were treating her.’
Eyewitness Martin Hennessy, 62 claimed that black screens placed around a square brick electricity unit close to the crossing, as part of attempts to ‘decorate’ the area for the Coronation, meant pedestrians were unable to see oncoming traffic.
Road closures were in place in West Cromwell Road near Earl’s Court in West London. Black screens placed around a square brick electricity unit close to the crossing, as part of attempts to ‘decorate’ the area for the Coronation, meant pedestrians were unable to see oncoming traffic. The screen can be seen here in the road
Local residents revealed that they had complained about the black screens (pictured after being taken down following the collision) to the local authority after they were placed there ahead of the coronation
He told MailOnline: ‘This was an accident waiting to happen. The screens had been put up for the coronation, but it meant that you had to step out a bit into the road to see any traffic.
‘I was there soon after it happened and it was carnage. The poor lady was flung about 40ft along the road and paramedics were attending to her. She stepped out a bit to peer around the screens and was hit.’
He added: ‘There have been a lot of near misses there recently because of those screens but getting across that road is dangerous at the best of times because it’s so busy.’
The unnamed woman, in her 80s, is fighting for her life after she was ‘flung 40ft’ by the officer’s motorbike, which was escorting Sophie through West London on Wednesday
The woman is still reported to be in a critical condition.
Local residents revealed that they had complained about the black screens to the local authority after they were placed there ahead of the coronation. They have been taken down following the crash.
Lucia Zanetton said: ‘These screens caused us a lot of problems because you couldn’t see the traffic properly. A lot of accidents happen in this area because it is a very busy road.
‘When you cross this road you are risking your by life and these screens didn’t help.’
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