A Liverpool fan has told how he thought he was caught up in a terrorist attack when a former Royal Marine drove into crowds at the club’s victory parade.
Rob Darke, 62, was left with a “life-changing injury” after being hit by Paul Doyle‘s Ford Galaxy Titanium on 26 May.
He had gone to celebrate Liverpool’s Premier League title win with his two sons, but told Sky News how the “fantastic day turned into a nightmare” as he made his way home from the open-top bus parade.
In an exclusive interview, he said he heard “shouting and screaming” and “people coming flying towards me” and then “bang”.
“I just stepped off the curb and the car wheel crushed my foot,” he said, describing the pain as “absolutely incredible” as the skin was ripped from his heel.
“I thought it was terrorists,” he said. “That’s the first thing that came into my head. Who else would do a thing like that?”
“There were people lying about all over the place. It was like a bomb had gone off… it was carnage everywhere… people crying and screaming.”
Mr Darke said he could hear “thumps from the car as people were being run over”, adding: “It was horrific.”
More than 130 people reported injuries after Doyle drove into crowds in Water Street just after 6pm. He was arrested at the scene.
Doyle pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to 31 charges, relating to 29 victims, aged between six months and 77 years old, including eight who were children at the time.
He admitted a charge of wounding with intent relating to Mr Darke, who says he was taken to hospital to be “stitched up” after the attack.
Read more: This is what happened and when
‘Life or limb’
But he was left in “excruciating pain” when the injury became infected, and later needed to be rushed to A&E, where “it was life or limb”.
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Mr Darke said he was in a wheelchair for three months and had been left with a “life-changing injury” and is undergoing counselling for PTSD.
He said: “Out of one-and-a-half million people, why did it have to be me?”
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He said father-of-three Doyle made “all the wrong choices” when he “decided he was going to plough into people”, including women and children.
“How on earth could you do that? It’s just beyond any comprehension,” he added.
