Horror of accident mother's final moments

A teenager told yesterday of the horrifying moment he saw his mother killed by a sand yacht on a crowded beach.

Steffan Cruz was holding his mother Carole's hand when Adrian Warren careered into her at 45mph, severing her legs and breaking her back.

The boy managed to jump out of the way and ran to his mother, whose first words were: 'I'm a cripple, I want to die.'

A court heard how Steffan is haunted by Mrs Cruz's death and thoughts that he might have been able to drag her to safety.

Steffan, 14, who was 12 at the time, said: 'I just froze. It just felt like a nightmare. I felt really lightheaded. You just can't believe seeing your mum like that. A part of me knew she was dying.

'I just tried to make her feel better, just to make her feel that she wasn't alone, I was there with her.

'I know I couldn't, but I have got this feeling I could have moved her out of the way. It was impossible but I have got that sinking feeling inside me that I could have done something. They're the worst things because they haunt you.'

He added: 'She was being brave because she probably knew she was going to die.'

Mrs Cruz, 38, was dragged 100 yards along the beach by the sand yacht, Preston Crown Court heard.

When Steffan reached her, he grabbed her hand to comfort her.

He recalled: 'First of all she said, "I'm a cripple, I want to die", and then we heard her groaning. I told her it would be OK and everyone loved her.

'Then she said she believed me and we said it was going to be OK and then I kissed her and then she started wheezing.

'I thought she was just having a little bit of a problem breathing, but it turned out her lungs were collapsing.

'Her eyes just looked straight forward and I thought she was actually focusing on something.

'She didn't blink or anything and then her stomach was going up and down really rapidly but there didn't seem to be any air coming out of her mouth.'

Mrs Cruz was pronounced dead in hospital about an hour later.

Just before the tragedy, she and her son had been discussing how dangerous the yachts were.

In police interviews played to the court, Steffan said: 'It must have been a couple of minutes before she got hit that she said that the sand yachts could go really fast.

'So I turned round and said that somebody's going to get hit by one of them one of these days. She agreed with me.

'Then a sand yacht came back down towards us and I saw it first. I don't think she saw it and I told her to watch out.

'I jumped a few metres away from it and then it hit her. It came up behind her and she got hit right on the back of her legs. I don't think she even saw it coming. She came hurtling into the air and then, as if her legs went numb, she dropped straight to her knees.

'It was moving, so it took her underneath it, like a dummy or something.'

Her other son Jason, who was 14 at the time, said: 'I was just thinking, there should have been more safety. Why did my mum get hit when she was doing nothing wrong? She was a lovely person and I loved her.'

Warren admitted being preoccupied with his race when he hit Mrs Cruz at St Anne's, near Blackpool.

Mrs Cruz, a teaching assistant from Burnley, and her sons had just had a picnic on the Saturday afternoon in August 2002. Fylde Sand Yachting Club was holding its annual regatta on the ten-mile beach. The sport involves d r i --ving the wind- powered machine around a circular course and racers steer by leaning towards the ground.

Witnesses said the yachts were 'dodging' beachgoers, and one spoke of 'an accident waiting to happen'.

Warren, a 49-year- old married lorry driver, was racing 12 others when Mrs Cruz was struck by the wooden offside rear axle of the yacht - which weighed 37-stone with the pilot in it.

Both her legs were 'virtually amputated' above her ankles, the prosecution claim.

Her back was broken after being lashed by the securing wire which runs from the mast of the yacht to the offside axle.

Warren told police there was a blind spot where the mast rotates and said he did not see Mrs Cruz.

But the prosecution say he could have moved his head from side to side to ensure his path was clear.

Warren, of Doncaster, denies manslaughter. The trial continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in