Georgina Daniels, a survivor of the Wigan Road crash that killed four people, shares the moment their lives changed forever

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Georgina Daniels says she has no idea how she and her husband, Tom, did not lose their lives in a crash that killed four(Image: Tom and Georgina Daniels/GoFundMe)

“For some reason, I remember every single second of it… I remember it as if it was 10 minutes ago.”

Georgina Daniels, a 28-year-old woman from Bolton, was just settling into married life with her 28-year-old husband, Tom. Then, the unthinkable happened.

Seven months into their marriage, on a night that ‘should have been so exciting’, their lives changed forever.

Georgina and Tom, and their two ‘best friends’, were travelling in a taxi in the early hours of January 11. That’s when they were struck, head-on, by another car, a Seat Leon.

Four people died, including their 54-year-old driver, Mosrab Ali, and three teenagers travelling in the other car – Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, 18, Farhan Patel, 18 and 19-year-old Mohammed Danyaal.

Today, January 17, Georgina told the Manchester Evening News about the scene of ‘devastation’. “It was quite a long event, we didn’t get into ambulances quickly,” she remembered.

“I can’t fathom how we’re all still alive – it should have taken our lives. I have no idea how we’re all still here after seeing what happened to everyone and the state we are all in.

“The biggest shock of all is that we are all still here. It was just devastation.”

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The couple only began their married life seven months ago(Image: Tom and Georgina Daniels/GoFundMe)

Five passengers from both the taxi and the Seat Leon, somehow, were left alive. An 18-year-old man, who was in the Seat, ‘remained in hospital for treatment on minor injuries’, as of Monday.

Meanwhile, Georgina, Tom, and their two friends – a 29-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man – also remain in hospital, where they are beginning to come to terms with horrific injuries.

The group of four taxi passengers were travelling together after a party in celebration of another couple of friends, to say farewell as they embark on an adventure to Australia.

Georgina explained to the M.E.N.: “They are going on the journey of a lifetime, and we had the best night with the best group of friends, we’re all so close. It was such a good way of sending them off.

“It should have been such an exciting part of their lives, for the night to end that way it did – it’s shocking to say the least. It’s one extreme to the other.”

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Four died in the crash on Wigan Road(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Now, she and her husband have been left with both traumatic injuries and memories. “Between [Tom and I], we’ve had four surgeries,” she said. It’s been a really difficult experience for all four of us [who were passengers in the taxi].

“Tom remembers bits of it, a lot of it he doesn’t remember. For some reason, I remember every single second of it.

“That’s helped with statements and explaining it to people around us. I remember it as if it was 10 minutes ago.”

In the aftermath, the couple has been left with a fear no young person should ever have to deal with – how they are going to cope with huge bills for the 24-hour care they say they are likely to need for a long time.

The friends of the four survivors have launched a fundraiser, desperate to help them through the unthinkable days ahead. Overnight, £17,000 was raised in donations.

As of writing on the evening of January 17, the page has raised £30,615 out of a £40,000 target.

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The young couple say they will require 24-hour care for a long time to come(Image: Tom and Georgina Daniels/GoFundMe)

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The young couple say they will require 24-hour care for a long time to come(Image: Tom and Georgina Daniels/GoFundMe)

“Our injuries are life-changing, we don’t know the extent of them yet, and they’ll require so much aftercare,” added Georgina, a manager in the NHS. “That’s why the fundraiser was made, for anything that insurance may not cover.

“We’ve had no idea what to do, it’s a situation that, unless it’s happened to you, you’re just so ignorant to what it feels like. It’s every minute of every day, it’s so hard to describe.

“We’ve had no idea what to do, it’s a situation that, unless it’s happened to you, you’re just so ignorant to what it feels like. It’s every minute of every day, it’s so hard to describe.

“As much pain as we’ve both been in, the mental side of it is one hundred times worse.

“We were in a taxi so it’s not straightforward what happens now. It could be years down the line before we come to a conclusion. Investigations can take 18 months.

“We’re likely to be off work over that time and have care that needs to be financially funded.”

The police scene on Wigan Road in Bolton

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The police scene on Wigan Road in Bolton(Image: Manchester Evening News)

They face doing all of this without each other.

“Our wedding was only seven months ago, we’ve been together more than 10 years,” said Georgina.

“We’ve basically always lived together – even when we didn’t have our own place, we would pack bags and stay at each other’s mum’s house for three or four days at a time.

“We’ve never been separate for too long. Now it’s our first year of marriage and we are going to have to live apart with life-changing injuries, with no end date.

“My legs are okay but my other injuries are going to need 24-hour care, but Tom now has major mobility issues, especially using stairs. We will both need 24-hour care for a long time.

“All of the recovery, rebuilding, the things we will have to get over. And we will have to do it apart. It’s cruel. There are no words to describe it.”

For now, their futures are ‘changing by the minute’.

Georgina said: “[Our outcome] changes every single minute. We have both got so many different injuries, we can’t make one decision without looking at the rest.

“We have no expectations, we are just living hour by hour.

We are trying to be positive and trying to get back to how we were in those pictures. That’s the only thing we can look forward to.”