Mum Crushed in Horror Crash Dies After Years of Agony and Amputations

Kara Prentice, 33, died in June 2021—nearly three years after a horrific crash that changed her life forever. On the night of September 7, 2018, she was about to get into a taxi on Seabank Road in New Brighton when a drunk driver, Rebecca Hodgson, lost control of her car while speeding at up to 55mph in a 30 zone. Hodgson’s black Renault Megane smashed into two parked vehicles, crushing Kara between them.

The mum-of-three was left with catastrophic injuries. She was rushed to Aintree Hospital where doctors were forced to amputate her left leg and half her pelvis in an attempt to save her life. After a long hospital stay, she was moved to a rehab centre in February 2019—but just weeks later, she developed sepsis and had to return to hospital. Her right leg was also amputated, reported Liverpool Echo.

She didn’t return home until August 2020, two years after the crash, and even then, she faced a daily struggle. Her injuries were so severe, she required round-the-clock care, but the pain from her wounds was so unbearable that she often refused treatment. At one point, the inquest heard, her wounds became so infected that maggots were found in her bed.

Her carer team from Love Nursing did their best, but they were limited—she wouldn’t let them open the curtains or properly tend to her wounds. Nurses flagged multiple safeguarding concerns, fearing the infections were spiralling out of control. Mental health teams were contacted, but no one visited. Tissue viability nurses could only offer phone support. All this was happening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made everything harder.

It wasn’t until April 2021—just six weeks before her death—that she was formally assessed and found to lack capacity to make decisions about her care. The coroner later said this assessment should have happened sooner, though it’s unclear whether an earlier referral would have changed the outcome.

By the time she was admitted to Arrowe Park Hospital at the end of April 2021, her condition had severely deteriorated. She continued to struggle with the unbearable pain and was again unable to tolerate the care needed to manage her wounds. On June 4, Kara passed away. A post-mortem confirmed she died from sepsis caused by infected wounds directly linked to the crash.

The driver, Rebecca Hodgson, had already been sentenced to three years in prison in 2020 after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The CPS later considered charging her with causing death by dangerous driving, but dropped it, deciding a new sentence wouldn’t have made any meaningful difference.

The coroner, Anita Bhardwaj, concluded the case as a death caused by road traffic collision, describing Kara’s injuries as catastrophic and her pain as “torturous and excruciating.” Despite missed opportunities in her care, the coroner found there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that these failings significantly contributed to her death.

Kara’s story is one of heartbreak, resilience, and a tragic end to a life that endured far more pain than most could imagine.