A woman has revealed how her unborn baby saved her life by taking the full impact of a horror car crash.
Louise Abbott, 28, was 25 weeks pregnant when she was smashed into by the ‘suicidal’ driving of City worker, Leroy Margolis, 29.
His Volvo V40 tore along at speeds of nearly 70mph before smashing into the side of Mrs Abbott’s VW Polo, causing her serious internal injuries.
Left, Louise Abbot in hospital days after the crash and right, Leroy Margolis outside Cambridge Crown Court during his trial
Mrs Abbott was forced to give birth the following day, but her daughter Layla did not survive and died from a fractured skull.
Today Margolis was jailed for two years after being convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, at Cambridge Crown Court.
The mother described her unborn child as her ‘guardian angel’ who doctors said saved her from suffering fatal injuries.
Reflecting on the horrific crash, Mrs Abbott, from Braintree in Essex, said: ‘I felt a real mix of emotions.
‘It felt strange that I had survived the accident but Layla had not made it.
‘I was told by a couple of doctors that had I not been pregnant, I would not have survived.
‘Nothing can ever bring Layla back but it seems to me that maybe she was there to save me and that she was my guardian angel.
‘I would also like my story to be a lesson to those who engage in dangerous driving.
‘It is an example of the devastation it can cause people unlucky enough to be victims of it.’
Louise and Laurence Abbott pictured with their daughter Layla at Addenbrooke Hospital
Speaking about the events which followed the crash, she added: ‘The rest of the day was a bit of a blur.
‘I delivered Layla the next day at 8.40am naturally.
‘I remember that her head and shoulders came out before a midwife could get to me.
‘Because of my pelvic injuries a caesarean section could not be performed.
‘They didn’t want to risk increased bleeding, I therefore had no option but to deliver Layla naturally.
‘After delivery I did not want to see Layla at first.
‘I was worried about her condition because I had been told that the head injury had killed her.’
Mrs Abbott gave birth to a healthy daughter Avery by C-section last month, despite being told her injuries meant she may never fall pregnant again.
Louise and Laurence Abbott on their wedding day in Malta during July last year
She added: ‘A few months after the accident, I found out I was pregnant again with a second child and I have just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Avery.
‘I found it very difficult to come to terms with the pregnancy at first. I was so scared that another crash might take another one of my children.
‘Laurence and I spent many nights crying and hoping that the anxiety would ease, which thankfully it eventually did.
‘We have always been clear that our newborn daughter would not be a replacement for Layla, who will always be a part of our family.
Her husband Laurence said the couple could now move on and look to the future.
He added: ‘We are devastated that Layla isn’t here to meet her baby sister Avery – as it should be.
‘Avery will however grow up knowing all about her wonderful big sister.
‘We couldn’t be happier with the safe arrival of our beautiful baby girl Avery.’
Margolis, an accountant for Lloyds, had been trying to overtake a lorry in ‘atrocious conditions’ at night when he clipped a traffic island and ricocheted into the path of the VW, the court heard.
Margolis, pictured outside Cambridge Crown Court, was said to be driving ‘suicidally’
The crash took place along an unlit stretch of the A1307 Linton Bypass in Cambridgeshire, at around 7.55pm on October 1, 2016.
Mrs Abbott was a front-passenger seat being driven to a wedding party by her colleague Michelle Samford.
Margolis, who was travelling in the opposite direction, broke the 50mph speed limit as he sped up to 69mph to overtake a lorry in his mother’s Volvo V40.
The court heard it was raining as he approached a staggered junction and lost control, careering into the Volkswagen Polo the women were travelling in.
Witness Andrew Dixon, a former driving instructor, told jurors Margolis’ driving was ‘suicidal’.
He said: ‘It was suicidal driving as far as I was concerned, all I remember thinking is: ”There’s no way he’s going to make it and if there’s a car coming the other way, this is not gonna be good.”
‘There’s no lighting on that stretch of the road, it was dark, the conditions were atrocious.’
Prosecutor Edward Renvoize described Margolis’ driving as ‘impatient and impetuous’.
He said: ‘Were Mr Margolis driving carefully and competently, he would not have failed to see the lights of the oncoming vehicle.
‘This was an extremely ill-advised manoeuvre, which would have been obvious to a careful and competent motorist.’
Oliver Jarvis, for Margolis, said he was of ‘unblemished character’ and that he did what anyone would have done because ‘people don’t want to be stuck behind the lorry.’
He added: ‘The defendant is painfully sorry for the injury that he caused Mrs Abbott.
‘He accepts that it’s his fault and he makes no bones about it.’
Margolis, from Wandsworth, London, was also banned from driving for three years upon his release from prison.
Sentencing him, Judge Cooper said: ‘The impact upon her has been very considerable indeed.
‘As she has said, there’s not one day she doesn’t contemplate the loss of the life, imagining how her baby’s life would have been like if it didn’t occur.’