To actually feel sorry for the woman driving the car in the Wimbledon car accident

[bagpuss90]

I’m sure I’ll be flamed here . I totally sympathise with the bereaved parents- I can’t stress that enough. I can understand them wanting justice . As we know the driver of the car suffered an epileptic seizure at the wheel - she had no history of epilepsy. I don’t see what she could have done differently. She has to live with what she did although it wasn’t her fault. AIBU to feel quite sorry for her ?

I had my first seizure on new year's day aged 26, if I had been driving I would have crashed as well. If it was truly her first one there is no way she could have predicted it. People also have the right to drive whatever bloody car they want!

My brother had his first seizure in his 30's. And sadly went on to have several more, only kept at bay by medication.

Why would the headteachers have seen any evidence at all?? A lot if it would have been medical and measurements to assess when she started speeding up and how fast she was going. The police, CPS, ladies legal team and medical experts I presume would be the only ones who would have needed access to those??

There would be no winners, whatever the outcome. 2 little girls dead, 2 sets of parents grieving, a school in shock and a woman who has to live with this forever, even though medical experts have confirmed she couldn't have predicted what happened

You don’t need epilepsy to have a seizure, anyone can have a seizure at anytime it’s just epilepsy means you are more prone to them.

IIRC they did prove she had a seizure, she had a scan shortly afterwards and they can see it on your brain.

Recently my friend’s wife had a seizure whilst pregnant because hormones are known to cause them.

When I picked my sons nursery many years ago I looked for one that had a garden where this couldn’t happen. But you don’t have so much choice with schools.

i agree those big cars have no place in urban areas. Though you can’t get rid of buses, lorries, etc.

It would be good to see stronger barriers in place at vulnerable spots.

My thoughts are with the families, friends and teaching staff. I hope any police failings are learnt from.

You can start with epilepsy at any age. I was 21. My neurologist said for some reason starting with epilepsy tends to follow a rule of sevens (not always)
so age 0,7,14,21,28,36,44 etc
he just said there is not reason why it’s just interesting.
I do feel for the women, the police can’t charge her with anything. It makes me think though if ever I manage to be seizure free for a year if I would ever drive again

I was involved in the repair of a house where a woman had had a first seizure and gone through the wall. She was driving a Fiesta and it went clean through a brick wall. She’d been approaching from a T-junction opposite. The size of the car in Wimbledon won’t have helped of course, but any car will do substantial damage at sufficient speed/velocity.

It’s a tragic situation for all concerned.

I agree with you.

They should not have named her. There are no winners in this case and whilst I feel dreadfully sad for the families of the children who lost their lives I think it’s totally wrong to try and blame someone for something that was completely out of their control. No different to having a cardiac arrest or severe heart attack at the wheel.

And yes, contrary to what some people believe, some people do not develop things like epilepsy or asthma etc until adulthood and completely out of the blue. (I had my first severe asthma attack aged 38 with no warning whatsoever, was completely out of my control).

I can't imagine how I'd feel if I was the driver. Devastated wouldn't cover it in terms of guilt.

However she didn't do it deliberately and I feel so sorry for her. People knowing who she is, etc. She'll be tainted for life though she did nothing wrong intentionally.

Your ignorance is astounding. Many people have undiagnosed epilepsy that can be awoken by a simple chain of events.

Theres a quite famous travel vlogger I was watching last week who has been diagnosed with epilepsy. She’s in her 30s and had no idea it was laying dormant in her.

Please go and educate yourself. The value of her home has absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the police investigation. Grow up

It’s amazing how ignorant people can spout such misinformation with utter confidence. What you believe counts for nothing in this case, fortunately.

Nope.
You can have a seizure at any age and for many reasons. Seizure does not always mean epilepsy.

However, re epilepsy only developing in childhood - that's not true either. My sister had her first seizure as an adult. I thought late 30s early 40s but she's here with me now and I asked her how old she was. She said about 34.

One night she had a tonic-clonic seizure. Never had any before.
Then started having them regularly and she is officially diagnosed with epilepsy.

I feel desperately sorry for the parents. I can't imagine what it must be like to witness this happening to your child. But I also feel sympathy for the driver. Seizures can happen at any age and the poor woman not only has to live with what happened but potentially now has a life changing condition.

She seems to be local so also has to live with going about her daily life with people wanting justice/vengeance all around her.

I understand wanting to blame someone but on what we have seen it appears to be just a tragic accident. Some people today seem to be very unwilling to accept this and always feel someone has to be to blame and so must pay.

Plenty of amateur neurologists on this post I see.
Perhaps you should offer your services to the authorities

Thats makes sense, my DC was 14 when they had their first seizure.

I don't think you can see a past seizure on a scan unless there's a physical cause ie haemmorrhage or a tumor. But you can't prove there wasn't one either.

My FIL started having seizures in his 70's. None in the decades prior. They could be and were medically evidenced. Fortunately he had stopped driving long before.

Of course not. I actually think you’d be unreasonable not to feel sorry for her?

It’s an absolutely heartbreaking situation.

You're talking shit. My ex had his first and last seizure at 27. He didn't have any more because the first one killed him.

The value of her house is utterly irrelevant. Would you be more willing to believe the outcome if she was a single mum on benefits, from a council estate.

I saw the report on Thursday and thought it was very jumbled and the two teachers weren't making sense.

The seemed to have an issue that the Police had failed by not charging someone with a crime. But there WAS no crime, because the person driving the vehicle was unconscious after a seizure, which could not have been predicted. Yes it's very sad, and the driver must feel absolutely dreadful but it's not her fault and could not have been predicted. Neither teacher is a medical expert, or expert in car crash investigation, or the law, or epilepsy. They are teachers and it is not their place to be calling for any action.

Now the Police may well have been rubbish at investigating and communicating and keeping people updated but that's not the same thing. And it's not what the two teachers were saying. Clearly the parents have no interest in being interviewed by the BBC.

It's a terribly sad situation all round. Neither the families of those poor little girls, nor the woman involved, will ever get over it

I can't see how anyone could not feel sorry for her. She did nothing wrong but will be living with a life sentence of guilt and trauma. Her name should never have been made public, there are too many crazies out there who may act out against her. If I was her I'd be changing my name and moving away, but she may have family etc making that complicated.

What a load of nonsense

My father had his first seizure a few weeks ago aged 91. I was with him when it happened. Only one so can't call it epilepsy as such