Sheffield mum says little boy was 'never the same' after drug driver ran him down on one-way street

Vincent was just seven when he woke up from an induced coma, and his parents realised he would never be the same again. 

"Once he started to walk about and he was able to talk, it was like it was a different child in that bed," said mum Rebecca Bramall.

"For a long time, it felt like we were trying to help him get better, but at the same time, we were grieving the little boy that he was."

Now, mum Rebecca has shared her devastating story with The Star of the day her son was hit by a car travelling the wrong way up a one-way street. She is now calling for tougher punishments for drink and drug drivers. 

On a summer’s day in June 2018, Vincent Wade was hit by a drug driver outside his family's Wensley Street home in Grimesthorpe while playing with his friends. The incident, which saw Vincent suffer a catalogue of injuries, including skull fractures and a bleed on the brain, saw the motorist issued a £120 fine and an 24-month driving ban.

Six years on, Vincent, now aged 13, has been left with a "lifetime of problems". He has special educational needs, short term memory problems, chronic fatigue, and requires the support of occupational therapists and psychologists while at school.

Rebecca, aged 37, explains the day the family’s lives changed forever. She said: "Vincent’s older brother Alfie was over for the weekend, and a couple of Vincent’s friends had knocked on the door to see if he wanted to play on his bike, so they were going to go across the road to this area with trees and a rope swing.

"Me and Vincent’s dad [Jim Wade] had just sat down on the settee, and we were just discussing what we were going to have for a nice big Sunday dinner, and we heard an almighty bang outside. 

"Not really thinking anything of it, because there was always noise in Page Hall, I glanced out the window and I remember seeing Vincent’s bike, and it’s a bit of a blur from then."

Rebecca ran out of the house and saw Vincent laid out on one side of the road, and a white 4x4 vehicle. It quickly became apparent that a driver had sped down the one-way street the wrong way in his car.

Dad Jim, aged 42, moved Vincent off the road and had to perform CPR while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. Rebecca recalled how the driver tried to get back in his car before members of the public grabbed his keys off him to prevent him driving away from the scene.

They both went with Vincent in the ambulance to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where they found out the true extent of his injuries. Vincent was taken into surgery where he had half of his skull removed. He was then placed into an induced coma for several days.

'Vincent wasn't that same person anymore'

Rebecca, who now lives in Barnsley, said: "We basically had been prepared that Vincent might come out of this in a vegetative state - that he might be in a coma for a very, very long time. Miraculously, it was a few days. 

"During his initial wake up, it was quite horrifying really because he was questioning whether he was dead, and he was only seven at the time. 

"He looked at you and he wouldn't know who you are. Then slowly, he gradually began to remember things, but not the things that you would imagine he would. He couldn’t remember his brothers and sister, but he could remember Marvel superheroes.

"It became quite painfully obvious that Vincent wasn't that same person anymore.

"Once he started to walk about and he was able to talk, it was like it was a different child in his bed. 

"For a long time, it felt like we were trying to help him get better, but at the same time, we were grieving the little boy that he was."

After 13 long days in hospital, Vincent was allowed to go home to continue healing before he would have to undergo surgery again in September to have metal plates fitted onto his head where his skull had been removed. 

Meanwhile a police investigation was underway before the motorist was eventually seen in court in early 2019. Rebecca said officers did everything within their powers before the sentencing, but the offender was only handed a £120 fine, and a two-year driving ban for driving under the influence of cocaine.

Rebecca said hearing the sentence was like a "slap in the face". She said: "A £120 fine is what my son’s entire life was worth to him. It affects an entire family, and it is so sad that the driver essentially got away with a slap on the wrist."

The impact of the accident was so severe on his parents that it saw their relationship ultimately break down. But despite living separately, they are still a family unit with Jim’s son Alfie, now 21, and their shared children Vincent, Philly and Cole.

Rebecca and Jim have each been left with lasting mental ill health that has prevented them from going back to work, and Alfie has been described as suffering from survivor’s guilt having watched the ordeal unfold at his side.

Rebecca says there should be a fairer system when sentencing drink and drug drivers so every family gets the "bare minimum justice that they deserve". 

She said: "The sentencing does need to be much, much harsher, more as a deterrent than anything else.

"There needs to be a standard baseline that they start from - any fine needs to be more than the average person can afford to initially deter them straight away. If you're getting behind the wheel of a car under the influence of anything, it should be an instant jail sentence."

Rebecca added: "We've worked through a lot of hard times. For anybody suffering with anything, even if you don't feel like it, you reach out. There is somebody there for everybody - don't be afraid to reach out to a mental health team."

Anyone affected by this story can find support by calling the Samaritans on 116 123.