Mum's heartbreaking struggle after 'beautiful' daughter killed by speeding driver

The mother of Anisha Vidal-Garner, who was tragically killed after being hit by a car in 2020, has spoken out about her loss. As part of Brake’s Road Safety Week, the Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) spoke to Mandy Garner about the full repercussions of losing a loved one to a road collision.

Anisha Vidal-Garner, 20, from Epping, was hit by a car - which then drove off - on Brixton Hill in Lambeth, Greater London, on the evening of Wednesday, February 19, 2020, while she was walking home. Despite the efforts of paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the car - 26-year-old Quincy Anyiam of Wolfs Wood, Oxted, Surrey - was speeding away from police when the collision happened. The car was abandoned, and Anyiam eventually gave himself in to the police two days later.

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Mandy said while speaking to SERP: “The impact of losing Anisha will last a lifetime. Like myself, parents that lose their child in such horrific circumstances just want to ensure that others don’t have to go through the same experience. If a movement could harness all that love, it would be immense.”

“It is something we live with every day. Anisha was the leader of our team, and her passion for music, films, and creative ideas were shared amongst us over the years. She was shy, witty, smart, beautiful inside and out and hugely empathetic to all.”

During the SERP’s interview, Mandy detailed exactly how losing a loved one to a road collision had affected her entire family for years to come.

“During the worst night of our lives, I had to break the news to my children that their sister would not be home. Amidst devastating grief, we had to negotiate homeschooling and to pick up our lives,” she said.

Last year in Essex, 44 individuals lost their lives in road collisions. The SERP thinks this number is unacceptable and is striving for Vision Zero, its shared aspiration for zero deaths and serious injuries on Essex roads by 2040.

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