The father of an eight-month-old baby who died after the pram she was in was hit by a car outside a hospital says being told she was unlikely to survive was “horrific”.
Mabli Cariad Hall died after the crash outside the entrance to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in June 2023.
Mabli’s father Rob Hall told WalesOnline that Mabli had been her parents’ “rock” as they visited Mr Hall’s mother, who was receiving end-of-life care, at Withybush Hospital.
On Wednesday 21 June 2023, Mr Hall was with his brother, standing under some trees on the grass opposite the hospital entrance.
Having taken her out of her pram, he put Mabli back in and put her straps on when he heard a “horrible revving and screeching”.
He then saw an “airborne” white car and he was “hit and thrown into a parking bay”.
“There was chaos; people running everywhere. Three nurses came over and picked me up because I couldn’t walk or stand. That didn’t matter. What mattered is where Mabli was,” he added.
Sophia Kelemen: Man in court over baby’s death after she was hit by car
Mabli Hall: Woman jailed for four years for causing eight-month-old baby’s death
Four rescued after boat catches fire near Pembrokeshire coast
“The next thing I remember is somebody walking past me holding Mabli’s lifeless body. I’ll never be able to explain what that felt like.”
‘Couldn’t believe it’
Mabli was initially airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, and later taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where she died four days later.
Being told by a doctor that Mabli was unlikely to survive was “the most horrific thing you could ever hear in your life”, Mr Hall said.
“At first, we just couldn’t believe it, we didn’t want to believe it. It was brutal.”
Last month, Bridget Curtis, 71, was jailed for four years, having previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Swansea Crown Court heard her white BMW reached a top speed of 29mph and travelled a distance of 28 metres in four and a half seconds.
Handing down his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Mabli’s family had “suffered the devastation of their lives”.
“That is because that day, they suffered that which each parent dreads, the loss of a much-cherished child, then just eight months old,” he said.
“Her life was taken from her senselessly, and indeed needlessly, as a result of your (Bridget Curtis’s) actions.”
Read more from Sky News:
‘Shock’ after British couple found dead in south of France
Trump issues Gaza ceasefire ultimatum to Hamas
Follow our channel and never miss an update.
As well as a custodial sentence, Ms Curtis was also handed an eight-year driving ban and will have to undergo a driving test before she can re-apply for a licence.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing hearing, Mabli’s grandfather Paul Sambrook said the family’s “nightmarish chapter” was over after an 18-month wait.
