A courageous mum who gave her own life to save her two-year-old daughter from an incoming lorry has tragically died in hospital. Rebecca Ableman, 30 selflessly protected her baby girl as she pushed little Autumn's pram out of the way of the collision, Leicester Mercury reports.
The devoted mother was on her way to the shops when she was tragically struck by a lorry carrying a crane on September 22 and had just enough time to shove her toddler's pram to safety before she was hit. An eye witness who watched the horrific incident take place in the small village of Willingham in Cambridgeshire said the brave mother saved her baby daughter's life.
Rebecca's partner and Autumn's father, Chris Tuczemskyi said his daughter is struggling to understand what has happened and is absolutely devastated by the loss of her mother. He said: "We planned to get married but life got in the way.
"It's tough, especially with Autumn. They were so close. Because she's only two she is finding it hard to understand what's happened.
"She still cries for her mummy, especially at night. Having to deal with everything, grieve and look after her at the same time and make sure she has everything she needs is extremely difficult.
"I know a lot of people would feel angry [with the driver] but I've got my daughter to focus on." A 67-year-old man who was arrested in connection with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of the accident has been bailed.
The NHS worker known as 'Becky' to her close friends was pushing her daughter in a pram as they headed towards a local farm shop when she was fatally knocked down on Station Road at around 11:20am. Chris added: "An eyewitness saw that just as the lorry hit Becky [Rebecca] she pushed Autumn out of the way in the pram.
"Otherwise the pram would have been swept up with the lorry. They then tended to Becky and made sure Autumn couldn't see what was happening.
"The eyewitness's partner then came out and took Autumn to the other side of the road and made sure she was happy and playing." Tragically, Chris who works in marketing was working out of the country when the nightmare unfolded.
He found out about the incident through his digital doorbell app which showed him footage of the police standing on the couple's doorstep. The police got in contact with the father and redirected him to the hospital Rebecca has been taken to via air ambulance.
Little Autumn was thankfully uninjured after the incident, thanks to her mother's heroic actions. Rebecca unfortunately died three weeks later on October 16 from traumatic brain injury in the Neuro ICU of Addensbrookes Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
Chris did not get the chance to say goodbye to his beloved partner with the last communication they had together being text messages about whether or not they should have fish and chips for dinner. Chris is now raising funds to donate to the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Neuro ICU after he said the staff had become ''like family'' to them after the distressing three weeks the family spent there.
Chris has also set up a GoFundMe page for his wife which he will be gifting to his daughter when she turns 18 and has already reached almost £4,000 over his £10,000 target. On the fundraiser, Chris wrote: "This will be for Autumn for when she’s 18.
"She will be encouraged to use it to follow in her mummy’s footsteps of travelling around the world, amongst other amazing things. No amount of money could replace the hole Becky’s passing will leave in our beautiful daughter's life, but I hope it can in some way help her feel closer to her mummy."
To donate, go to the GoFundMe page here.
