A mother suffered a broken collarbone and spinal hairline fracture after her ex-boyfriend crashed into a tree at 60mph because she refused to rekindle their relationship.
Chloe Wilson, 20, was locked into a white Vauxhall Corsa with former partner Liam Elsom after he punched a man that she was on a date with in the face and threatened her in January this year.
They have a 16-month-old daughter, called Aria, and split two months before the crash after Elsom is claimed to have started messaging other women and drinking regularly.
Elsom, from Greasbrough, South Yorkshire, was jailed this month for 10 years after pleading guilty to charges of intent to cause serious harm, dangerous driving and common assault.
Chloe Wilson, 20, pictured with her ex-boyfriend Liam Elsom, suffered a broken collarbone and spinal hairline fracture after Elsom drove his car into a tree at 60mph. After forcing her to get into the vehicle, threatening to punch the man she was on a date with in the face, he told her ‘I’m going to kill you now’
Chloe pictured after the crash in hospital. She said he just got out and walked away when it happened. She has needed help to walk again and suffered from PTSD since the crash
A plaster being peeled off one of Chloe’s wounds. She was hospitalised for six days after the horror crash. Elsom, following a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, was jailed for 10 years
The young mother from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, also suffered torn ligaments in her left leg, a blood clot after her seatbelt dug into her stomach, and needed to teach herself to walk again after the crash.
She now suffers from PTSD, has to wear a sling when her arm aches, and has been told she will need physio and hydrotherapy for up to 18 months.
Speaking about the horrifying crash, she said: ‘He was going at stupid mile an hour and I put my seatbelt on and braced myself for what could happen.
‘We were flying round these roads but I kept saying I wanted to go home. I was screaming at him saying ‘please, stop the car, you are drunk’.
‘He had gone round a bend and the tyres had come up in the air. He was saying to me ‘are you going to get back with me?’
‘We were driving so fast and he then looked at me dead in the eye and said to me ‘I’m going to kill you now’. I felt sick.’
Chloe pictured in hospital after the car crash caused by her ex boyfriend Elsom. She said that just beforehand he was going at ‘stupid mile an hour’ and that they were ‘flying around corners’
Chloe fell in an out of consciousness and remembers seeing Elsom look back at her before slamming the car door shut.
‘It all happened so quick. I could not breathe when I woke up, I felt like my chest was closing in,’ she said.
‘He got out of the car, looked at me and just slammed the door.
‘I had to undo my seatbelt and open the car door. The pain was so intense and I must have passed out.
‘I fell on the road.
‘I remember beforehand, I saw blue lights coming towards me.
‘I remember waking up and there were police all around me.
‘I remember saying ‘he tried to kill me’.
‘I’m the luckiest person ever to survive. Every doctor I saw said I’m lucky to still be here. I genuinely thought that was it.’
Chloe spent six days in hospital after the crash and had several pins and a metal plate put in her collar bone.
Chloe and Elsom met at a fast food restaurant where they worked in December 2016 and started dating in February 2017.
The pair moved in together and Chloe quickly fell pregnant before giving birth to their now 16-month-old daughter, Aria in February 2018.
Elsom was never physically violent towards Chloe during their two-year relationship, she said.
Chloe blames finding messages to other girls and Elsom’s constant drinking as the reasons why they pair eventually split in November 2018.
They continued speaking on a daily basis and went for a daytime trip to York to see Santa with Aria just before Christmas last year.
‘At first he was everything I ever wanted, I loved him more than anything and to me, he was the most important thing,” added Chloe.
‘At the beginning he was amazing, I could not fault him for anything. We did everything together.
‘He started drinking all the time and started being nasty. In the end, he turned out to be everything I never wanted.’
Chloe was invited out for drinks with a male friend in January this year but after walking to the bar to buy a drink, she was taken aback to find Elsom stood next to her.
‘I did not expect him to be there. I walked on to the dancefloor and turned around and Liam was there shouting at my friend,’ she said.
‘He started punching my friend and laying into him. I got in between them and then he punched me which bust my lip.
‘I ran off in hysterics and floods of tears. I was looking for my friend but could not find him. Liam was constantly calling me saying if I didn’t get in the car he was going to punch my friend’s face in.’
He was sentenced to a term in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday last week.
Chloe bravely read out a victim impact statement in court because she wanted to face her former boyfriend to show him he ‘had not won’.
Explaining her decision she said: “I knew I needed to go and face him.. I wanted to look him in the eye to be able to say you did do that to me, you ruined my life but I’m still here.
“I wanted him to know he had not won. It was so important to me to go to court because when Aria gets older she is going to have questions.
“I want her to know I did everything I needed to. He is in prison for a long time but he deserves it for what he did to me.
“He locked me in the car and he was cold. He was saying to me ‘are you going to get back with me?’.
“He said ‘I’m going to kill you now’ and then bang, straight into a tree. He was drunk, he was angry, he was jealous.
“At the time, on that night, hand on heart, I knew he wanted to kill me. It was like ‘if I cannot have her, nobody else can’, I honestly think that’s how Liam looked at it.
“He nearly killed me, our daughter would have been without a mum and dad.
“Whenever I close my eyes, all I can see is Liam saying ‘I am going to kill you now’. I see his face everywhere. As soon as I hear a car brake now, I feel sick. I feel like I’m back in the car again.”
Speaking after the sentencing, investigating officer Joanne Dixon said: ‘I am satisfied with the sentence handed to Elsom.
‘His impulsive actions that night have had far-reaching consequences and have resulted in a long recovery period for the victim.
‘Domestic abuse and violence will not and should not be tolerated. I hope now that Chloe can find some closure and concentrate on her recovery.’
Chloe spent six days in hospital after the crash and had several pins and a metal plate put in her collar bone.