Raging victim says the motorist abandoned him in filthy water after begging: ‘Please don’t make a claim’
Marlon Bhagwandeen – Victim of hit and run in Hall Green
A Birmingham dad was knocked down by a “coward” driver who stopped before fleeing the scene.
It happened in Brooklands Road, at the junction with School Road in Hall Green, just before 5pm on Tuesday, January 27.
Marlon Bhagwandeen, a manager at Hall Green School, was walking home from work and crossing the road when he was hit by a black Vauxhall Insignia he said was driving ‘at speed’.
He went up onto the car’s bonnet and was left injured in the road.
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Initially, the driver stopped. But rather than trying to help Marlon, the victim said the motorist tried to haul him off the ground and pleaded with him not to make any claims.
And before any emergency services could arrive, the driver left the scene without leaving any details.
Marlon told BirminghamLive: “I walk that route every day and I’m familiar with it.
“I had just crossed the big intersection where South and City College is.
“I was on the pavement on School Road and looking at the traffic on School Road, waiting for when it was safe to cross Brooklands Road. The traffic on School Road was almost at a standstill.
“Just as I crossed and got to the junction of Brooklands Road, a Vauxhall Insignia turned into Brooklands Road.
“Between the car hitting me and me hitting the ground, I have little recollection of what happened.”
‘I didn’t see you brother. I’m so sorry’
He continued: “When I came to, he was standing over me. He said: ‘I didn’t see you brother, I didn’t see you. I’m so sorry.’
“He grabbed my arm to pull me up. I said: ‘Don’t pull me.’ I was dazed and shocked.
“A bystander said: ‘Don’t pull him up, he’s probably injured.’
“He started telling her ‘make him get up, make him get up’.
“Then I saw brake lights. Apparently, he drove his car a bit further down Brooklands Road.
“He then came back and said: ‘Please don’t make any insurance claims, I have kids.’
“He stopped for about two minutes and then left. He was a young Pakistani lad with a light complexion.
“I was left in a drain in freezing, dirty, muddy water, left there like a stray dog.
“He didn’t have the decency to stay with me. He chose to flee, like the coward he is.”
Marlon Bhagwandeen from Hall Green was knocked over on his way home from his job at Hall Green Secondary School, with the driver fleeing the scene after pleading with him not to put in a claim
A small crowd gathered to help Marlon. One passed him his phone and he called his son and wife.
He continued: “My right shoulder is in agony. My left arm came up to my chest at a slightly awkward angle.
“I was on the side of the road. Multiple bystanders phoned for paramedics and the police.
“When the police eventually got there, they taped off the road. They also phoned for paramedics as did my wife. But it took two-and-a-half hours.
“They were asked ‘is he breathing, is he conscious’. As the answers were yes, I wasn’t seen to.”
Marlon said he could not be moved because of the possible fracture.
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He said off-duty doctors and nurses stopped and helped. One was Paige, a trauma nurse at A&E at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The community rallied around, bringing blankets to keep Marlon warm.
He said: “I want to give a shout out to all the residents who came out. They brought blankets. One brought a heated one.”
The headteacher at his school, KarenSlater, also came. Marlon said: “She went back to the school to get blankets. She also brought drinks from a cafe for everybody who was there.”
The T-junction of Brooklands Road (foreground) and School Road in Hall Green where Marlon Bhagwandeen was struck by a driver who initially stopped but then fled the scene (Image: Google)
He also praised the paramedics who arrived. He said: “When the paramedics arrived, two lovely guys, Jordan and John, assessed me and got boards under me.
“They were very professional. Very supportive and very kind.
“They explained every single thing to me that they were going to do. They really looked after me.
“The paramedics took me to Heartlands Hospital. At the time, the paramedics thought I had a pelvic fracture.
“I’m still in pain. I have been signed off work. I’m moving ever so slowly.”
As it was thought he had a fracture, he could not be moved until paramedics arrived.
He said he has had sleep issues since dreaming that he was in that freezing muddy puddle after being hit by a car.
‘It’s outrageously despicable’ – Marlon on driver who fled scene
Marlon said the actions of the driver were ‘outrageously despicable’.
The incident was said to have been caught on dashcam footage, but when police visited the registered keeper for the car, it was not the driver involved in the crash.
Marlon believes the footage captured the face of the driver involved and hoped he could be traced.
He said: “I have been in contact with West Midlands Police three times but haven’t had any updates about what’s going on.”
Marlon also spoke about the state of driving in Birmingham.
He said: “The driving in Birmingham. I have been living here for eight years. Across the city, including in my road, it is atrocious to say the least.
“There was also another hit-and-run accident in School Road three days before mine – and his injuries were worse than mine. It needs to stop.”
On the incident, a spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We were called shortly after 5pm on Tuesday, January 27 to a road traffic collision involving a car and a pedestrian at the junction of Brooklands Road and School Road in Hall Green.
“One ambulance attended the scene. Upon arrival, we found a man who was the pedestrian.
“He was assessed by ambulance staff and had sustained potentially serious injuries.
“He received treatment from ambulance staff at the scene before being conveyed to Heartlands Hospital for further assessment.”
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‘West Midlands has the worst hospital handover delays in country’
But Marlon was concerned about the two-plus-hour delay for them to arrive.
Marlon said: “It was what was said to my wife by one of the call handlers that I was not a priority because I was breathing and there were people having heart attacks across Birmingham.
“At that moment, telling the victim of a suspected hit-and-run you’re not a priority was hard.”
The first 999 call was made at 5.02pm, but the ambulance did not arrive until 7.09pm.
The ambulance service blamed hospitals for their delays in taking patients in handovers, saying: “The West Midlands has the worst hospital handover delays in the country.”
It said on the day in question, it lost more than 1,470 hours in hospital handover delays, the equivalent of taking 123 of our ambulances off the road.
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The ambulance service said: “Firstly, we would like to offer our sincere apologies to the patient for the delayed response he experienced.
“Sadly, some patients wait much longer for a response than we would want as a result of hospital handover delays.
“There is a direct correlation between hospital handover delays and our ability to get to patients in the community quickly. The West Midlands has the worst hospital handover delays in the country; they make up around a third of the entire total.
“Despite that, the statistics show our service is performing at a very high level, with the fourth best performance in the country for Category 2 patients, such as those with heart attacks and strokes.
“We recognise there is more that we need to do, which is why we have increased the number of paramedics and nurses in our control rooms and have more ambulances and paramedics on the road than ever before.
“We will continue to work with our partners in hospitals to find ways of reducing the handover delays so that we can get to patients even faster than we do at the moment.”
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A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “We’re investigating after a collision between a car and a pedestrian at the junction of School Road and Brooklands Road, Hall Green, at around 5pm on Tuesday, January 27.
“The pedestrian, a man in his 50s, was taken to hospital, but thankfully his injuries were not life-changing.
“The car did not stop at the scene, and we are carrying out a number of enquiries as our investigation progresses.
“Anyone with information should contact us on 101, or via Live Chat on our website, quoting log 4201 of 27 January. You can also speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”
