Crash survivor: "Dangerous driver hit my car with such force I thought I'd been struck by an airplane"
A woman left for dead when an unlicensed driver ignored a give way sign, sped through a crossroads and ploughed into her car - before fleeing the scene without checking on her - has warned that a car can be a “loaded weapon” in the hands of the wrong person.
This shocking video shows the horror crash caused by defendant Ty Kelsall, who has never held a driving licence and recruited a friend to rent the Vauxhall Corsa involved in the collision for him.
He can be seen speeding through a crossroads on Festival Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, ignoring the give way sign, without any attempt to slow down.
“He’s stolen my independence and the last two years of my life”
Melanie* suffered extremely serious injuries in the collision, and has given her permission for this video to be shared, as she asks drivers to “think twice” before engaging in the sort of reckless driving that has cost her so much.
“I could have died, it could have been so much worse. However, it’s almost as bad as when you do die, because you still have the injuries, the pain and suffering, and the adjustments you have to make,” she said.
“I’m no longer independent. They’ve stolen that from me. He’s stolen that from me…he’s stolen my independence and the last two years of my life.”
Speaking directly to anyone considering driving in a similar way to Kelsall, Melanie said: “Crashes like this ruin lives. You’re not only going to ruin your own life, you’re going to ruin the lives of everyone else involved - and their friends and family - too. Don’t do it.”
“If you don’t have a licence, don’t drive a car.”
Kelsall is now behind bars, after the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, jailed him for three years for the offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on June 10, 2025.
In the hours running up to the collision, Melanie had spent the Bank Holiday Monday getting her nails done, picking up flowers and excitedly making preparations for her upcoming wedding.
But the criminal actions of Kelsall turned what should have been a joyful time for Melanie - as she looked forward to her wedding, honeymoon and a life together with her new husband - into a difficult period of her life, plagued by pain, trauma and shock.
The “domino effect” of Kelsall’s dangerous driving
Melanie calls it the “domino effect,” which continues to “ripple” through the lives of her and her loved ones, as she contends with the numerous physical and psychological effects of the crash - more than two years on.
When Kelsall, previously of Hargrave Place, Thrybergh, Rotherham, hit Melanie’s car, the force was such that in the disorientating seconds after the collision she thought her vehicle had been struck by an airplane.
Melanie’s thoughts then turned to whether she would survive the crash, and if not, who would take care of her fiancé and dogs, before wondering if the people in the other car were alright.
In contrast, Sheffield Crown Court heard earlier this month how Kelsall, then aged 20, spent the moments following impact picking up £20 notes from the floor of his vehicle, before fleeing, shortly behind the other three males in the vehicle who can be seen running in the video of the collision.
Melanie says that she was “mortified” to learn that the first thoughts of Kelsall and his associates was to “run off.”
“The worst bit is that they were driving recklessly…and to hear they ran off. “I didn’t think there were any human beings who would act like that,” Melanie told The Star.
She added: “You’re entering into a loaded weapon when you get into a car…that’s how I feel.”
A nurse and a doctor who were enjoying the sunshine in a garden near to the crash site were among those who rushed to come to Melanie’s aid on the fateful day of May 29, 2023.
They later told Melanie that the awful “smash” of the impact was so horrific they thought the crash must have resulted in a fatality, and consequently, it made them feel “sick.”
“I was glad it hit me and no-one else, what if children had been around?”
Melanie suffered numerous injuries including fractures to her pelvis and fibula, along with a T12 spinal injury, cuts and bruises to her face, and a sternum injury.
Her drivers’ side door was completely crushed in the collision, and she soon began to smell petrol. She managed to move over to the passenger side, and get to safety.
“I felt like I was in the car for about 15 minutes…but the driver travelling behind me told me I was out within about six seconds,” explained Melanie.
In the years that have followed, Melanie continues to be grateful that the crash happened on a Bank Holiday Monday, when the schools were off, because the collision occurred just yards from Wath Central Primary School.
“It’s right where the kids come out…if someone had been walking near to the hedge my car crashed into, it could have killed them,” she said.
“I remember saying that I was glad it hit me and no-one else, what if children had been around?”
Melanie was rushed to hospital, and remembers “going into shock” in the ambulance, as she tried to get her “head around what had happened” and intrusive thoughts of how much worse it could have been raced through her mind.
Meanwhile, loved ones in the area who saw the horrifying wreckage of Melanie’s car assumed she had been killed and made concerned calls to her fiancé
Television crews filming for a documentary captured Melanie in the crucial minutes and hours after the crash, as her partner wept at the shock of it all. She remained in hospital for around three days afterwards.
Their wedding was due to be held around five weeks later on July 1, 2023, and the couple were initially planning on postponing it, knowing Melanie would be on crutches coming down the aisle, and would not be able to stand unaided for their first dance.
“My consultant said: ‘Why are you doing that, it’s another thing they’ve ruined’.”
“That driving ruined my honeymoon”
Following that advice, the couple did proceed with the wedding as planned.
While the newlyweds were not able to have the first dance they imagined, they still had “a lovely day” and were able to manage a “standing smooch” in front of their loved ones.
The couple had planned an adventurous jaunt to Greece for their honeymoon, with excursions to the island where Mamma Mia was filmed among the items on their itinerary. Melanie was still on crutches, however, and her mobility difficulties meant they had to cancel much of what they had planned.
“That driving ruined my honeymoon, it’s taken two years from me,” she said.
Melanie has subsequently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, after replaying the crash over and over again in her mind, and suffering from disturbed sleep.
She has described having hallucinations in which she keeps thinking she can see her car - which was written off in the crash - parked up on her driveway out of the corner of her eye.
“When I look properly, I can see that it’s not there,” said Melanie.
Melanie also experienced an ordeal when she visited a car showroom, and she tried having a look at a car which was the same model as the one involved in the collision.
“I got in, and when I saw that dashboard, all I could see was a smashed windscreen. I had to get out. I ended up being sick in the showroom,” said Melanie.
Two years on, and while Melanie does now have another car, she is “very cautious” about driving, and will only drive a maximum of three minutes away from her home.
Responding to the three-year prison sentence Kelsall received, Melanie said: “I didn’t expect him to get anything…I’m happy with what he did get.”
Kelsall, now aged 22, was not linked to the crash for around two months, after he instructed the woman who rented the car for him to report it as being stolen, which she did.
In the interim, Melanie says it was an agonising wait not knowing if the driver who hit her would ever be caught.
Kelsall was found with 26 wraps of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest on July 20, 2023, and was also sentenced for possessing Class A drugs, after admitting to the offence at an earlier hearing.
Moving forward, Melanie says the things she has heard about Kelsall attempting to turn his life around - as advanced in mitigation during his sentencing hearing - are encouraging.
“I really hope he’s learned his lesson, I really hope he has,” she said.
She is also full of praise for the kind-hearted members of staff who helped her after the crash, the medical staff who treated her, and Robert Beard, the police officer who helped to bring Kelsall to justice.
“I’ve felt really impressed by the police, they were really supportive. Rob was really good, he was always calling to check in on me. He was a one-man band, and it was a massive investigation, and he did really well,” continued Melanie.
In addition to a three year prison sentence, Judge Richardson also handed Kelsall a three-year driving ban, with an 18-month extension to reflect the amount of time he is likely to spend in custody.
*Not her real name