Mum killed by lorry pushed two-year-old daughter to safety
A mum who died after being hit by a lorry managed to save her daughter by pushing her pram away.
Rebecca Ableman, 30, died three weeks after being struck by the vehicle in Willingham, Cambridgeshire, on 22 September.
The NHS worker, also known as Becky, got her daughter Autumn to safety before she was hit and suffered traumatic head injuries, her partner Chris Tuczemskyi said.
The male lorry driver, 67, was arrested for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
He has been released on bail until 9 January.
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Tuczemskyi, 34, told the BBC: "The lorry… struck the back of her and one of the eyewitnesses saw Becky pushed the pram out of the way."
He said their daughter’s pram "would have been swept up with the lorry" if she hadn’t acted quickly.
"So her last act was essentially to push the pram out of the way so she took the full force,” Tuczemskyi added in an interview with ITV.
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The dad, who was returning from a job abroad at the time of the crash, has started a GoFundMe page in Ableman’s memory.
Money from the crowdfunder, which has already surpassed the £10,000 target, will be donated to the neurological critical care unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
Further cash will be put into a trust for Albleman's daughter and also pay for a memorial bench in the Willingham Community Orchard.
Ableman's family described her as "the light within our family” following her death.
"But most of all, she was the most amazing, strong, and loving mummy to her two-year-old daughter," they wrote in a tribute.
"Becky’s independence, kindness, determination and beauty will live on through her forever. She will always be her daughter’s superhero. We cherish every moment and memory we had together.”
Tuczemskyi added on the GoFundMe page: “We spoke at lengths about how we envisioned Autumn growing up.
“Her vision/hope was for her to follow in her example and to go exploring around the world, to discover herself as Becky once did.
“My wish is that she can see that the world is a beautiful place and not the nightmare it currently is for us all.”
