Schoolgirl left blind by airbag after car smash

Kelly Green was a passenger in a car being driven by her father, Geoff, along a rain-soaked road when the vehicle hit a pothole and flipped onto its roof.

The impact released the airbag which hit her in the eyes.

After the teenager was cut out of the car she was rushed to hospital for surgery but doctors were unable to save her sight.

Medics told her family the sight in her right eye is gone for good, although there’s a small hope she may one day be able to see again from her left eye.

Mr Green, 47, who works as a postman, was driving in wet weather in Gleadless, Sheffield, when his black BMW 3 series first hit the pothole and then the central reservation, before ending up on to its roof.

His wife Bev, 49, at the family home in Eckington, near Sheffield said: “You just don’t think an airbag could cause as much damage as this.

“Both of the airbags went off in the crash, and the one in front of Kelly it hit her straight in the eyes.

“Doctors told us straight away that her sight wasn’t very good, you can’t imagine our reaction.

“She will definitely not get her sight back in the right eye and her left eye doesn’t look promising, She will be having further surgery and we are hoping there could be a chance that one day she will regain the sight in that eye.”

The family have now contacted solicitors who are looking into the possibility of a legal case against the car manufacturer.

Miss Green, a pupil at Eckington Comprehensive School, will need a guide dog and is learning Braille, touch-typing and walking with a cane.

Neighbours, family and friends are rallying round with fund-raising efforts to buy her specialist equipment.

Mrs Green said: “If you look at the pictures of her afterwards it is like a mask of bruises from the top of her eyebrows to the base of her nose where it has hit her.

“Our lives have been turned upside down but Kelly’s positive attitude is keeping us going.

“It hasn’t affected her. She is still the same, the only difference is she can’t see.

“Kelly is not letting it stop her from doing whatever she wants to do.

“She has just getting on with life, she is absolutely amazing.”

Miss Green said that she can only remember parts of the crash.

”I remember the car hitting something and then somebody opening the door, holding my head and asking if I was OK,” she said.

“When I came round in hospital I remember trying to open my eyes but they were stitched together.

“I was upset when I was told I’d lost my sight. I didn’t know what to think.

“I thought people wouldn’t talk to me. But I just want people to know I haven’t changed.

“I have just had to adjust to everything, I’m still the same girl and I’m not going to give up.”

Miss Green, who has a brother and two sisters, said she now wants to work as a masseuse.

“Some things are a bit harder but I’m getting used to using my cane now,” she said. “I am still going to school but I am hoping to go to college and then do a masseuse course because it’s something I can do with my hands.

“I want to go on holiday with my friends for my 18th birthday. I would like to got to Turkey because I love it there.”

Mr Green said that his daughter had already undergone five operations and there was more surgery to follow.

”Kelly was fine before and had no problems with her eyes,” he said. “Her face was a complete mess afterwards. The impact pushed her right eye back into the socket.

“Her face was mass of bruising but amazingly we survived when we could easily have been killed. I had just a few cuts and bruises and the only injury to Kelly was her eyes.

“She has had five operations already to try and save the sight in her left eye and there will be more surgery to try and restore the sight. She is absolutely amazing and is determined to get on with her life in as normal a way as possible. We are so proud of her.”

A spokesman for Fenton’s, the personal injury solicitors who are acting for the family, said: “We can categorically state that her injuries were caused by the airbag.”