The mothers of two British women left critically injured after being mown down by a speeding taxi in Ibiza have told of the horrifying scale of their daughters’ injuries.
Ebony Cordingly, 26, and Lauren Holmes, 27, were crossing the road in the early hours of yesterday morning when they were hit by a car after a night out on the Spanish holiday island.
The best friends – both mothers of young children from Bradford, West Yorkshire – were rushed to separate hospitals and remain in intensive care with what doctors warn could be life-changing injuries.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail after racing to the Balearic island, Lauren’s mother Bernice Ramsden said: ‘When I saw her, it broke my heart. It was horrible. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.’
Ebony’s mum Diana Gray added: ‘To see your child crying and begging for help is the worst feeling in the world.’
The pair suffered broken legs, punctured lungs, shattered ribs and broken arms, with Lauren also left with a cracked spine and Ebony a bleed on the brain.
Friends and relatives have now launched separate GoFundMe pages to support both Lauren and Ebony and help cover the spiralling costs of treatment, flights and childcare.
Lauren Holmes (pictured) was left with with a cracked spine, along with broken legs, punctured lungs, shattered ribs and broken arms
The women were hospitalised following a crash in Ibiza
Ebony Cordingly’s (pictured) relatives are raising money to help care for her three sons while she remains in intensive care
Lauren’s (pictured) family say they are desperate to get the 27-year-old home to her two young children in Bradford
Ebony’s relatives are raising money to help care for her three sons while she remains in intensive care, warning her recovery will be ‘long, uncertain and incredibly difficult.’
Bernice, 47, continued: ‘When I first saw Lauren, I couldn’t look at her, it was not my Lauren.
‘I’m absolutely devastated. My daughter is languishing there. She can’t do anything. She’s lying in bed, not able to move.
‘She can’t talk, she can’t do anything. I just want her home.’
The devoted mums recalled how they were both woken in the early hours of Tuesday morning to be told that their daughters had been seriously injured.
Diana, 54, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, recalled: ‘When I got the call I was in total shock and disbelief. It was just before 3am.
‘I can’t describe how scared and confused I felt at hearing that my youngest daughter had been involved in this terrible accident.
‘I booked the first available flight, threw clothes into a bag and just headed for the airport.
‘Knowing I had limited funds and nowhere to stay was a daunting thought. I’m mobility disabled but my child needed me and that overruled everything.
‘It was the longest journey I have ever experienced. It felt like time had stood still, it still is quite surreal.
The best friends – both mothers of young children from Bradford, West Yorkshire – were rushed to separate hospitals
Doctors warn they have suffered what could be life-changing injuries (Ebony, pictured right)
‘My children have all worked tirelessly to find accommodation for me at short notice as I had no place to stay when I landed.
‘My only concern was being there for when my youngest daughter came too.’
Bernice was also woken in the middle of the night with the bad news, but initially refused to travel to Spain as she was looking after her five-year-old grandson Harlan-Joshua 5, Lauren’s boy.
She explained: ‘It was the early hours of the morning when a friend of Lauren called to say she had been run over by a taxi.
‘I couldn’t talk. I was in total shock. Diana [Ebony’s mum] phoned me and told me she was going to Ibiza.’
She had to hastily make childcare arrangements for her grandson, Lauren’s son, who she had been looking after before rushing to join her,
‘I had five minutes to pack and an hour and forty minutes to get on the flight,’ she said.
The distraught mothers both got seats on the direct Jet2 flight from Leeds-Bradford Airport to Ibiza.
Ebony is being treated at the private Nuestra Senora del Rosario Polyclinic while Lauren is in the intensive care unit at Ibiza’s main Can Misses state hospital.
Ebony’s family have also come together to help look after her three young boys – Jamie, Jacob and Reggie – who had stayed at home in West Yorkshire and do not know their mum has been hurt.
Ebony’s mum Diana Gray (pictured, right) said: ‘To see your child crying and begging for help is the worst feeling in the world’
Ebony (pictured) has now been released from the intensive care unit after she underwent emergency surgery on open wounds on her legs
Ebony has now been released from the intensive care unit after she underwent emergency surgery on open wounds on her legs, and her condition is now stable.
Her brother Kyle told the Daily Mail: ‘Ebony says she can’t remember much about the accident itself and is currently on a lot of medication.
‘But she is scared for the future because she is a single mum and is bringing up her three boys on her own.’
He added: ‘I would like to also make it clear that Ebony and Lauren were not out drinking on the night it happened.
‘They had been out for some food as it was their last night before flying home so they we just soaking up the sights as Ebony knew she had to get home for her boys.
‘I imagine this is killing her now as she doesn’t know when she will next see them. Her boys still do not know what has happened yet.’
Meanwhile Bernice has spent much of the day at Lauren’s bedside.
She added: ‘When I got to the hospital, I was heart-broken.’
The horror incident that left the two women in hospital is still being investigated by the Civil Guard.
There have been no reports of any arrests, and the Spanish driver is said to have passed a drink-drive test although this has not yet been confirmed by police.
The best friends are understood to have been crossing the road when they were hit, in an area within the municipality of San Antonio known locally as Can Guillemo, and were heading back to their hotel after a meal.
The Civil Guard said yesterday as news of the early-hours incident emerged: ‘Two British women were taken to hospital in a serious condition.
‘They were pedestrians who were run over by a 24-year Spaniard at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla.
‘One is 26 and the other is 27.
‘The incident happened at 1.50am on the El-600 Road between Ibiza and San Antonio in the municipality of San Antonio.’
