The mother of a young woman who was trapped with the bodies of her dead friends for 48 hours but survived a horror car crash has blasted what she calls the police’s ‘appalling’ response.
Anna Certowicz, 42, is mum to Sophie Russon, 20, one of two friends who survived the crash which occurred as the five young people drove to a night out in Cardiff.
Anna said of the police: ‘If they got there sooner, we don’t know, but maybe they could have survived.
‘The police did not do enough – it wasn’t until people started posting on social media that they paid us any attention,’ she told The Mirror. ‘They had calls from me, Sophie’s dad and all the other families, but they were very blasé and said they’re probably out partying.’
Anna continues to nurse her daughter, who she says was left ‘unrecognisable’ from her injuries, requiring life-saving surgery after fracturing her skull in the accident that killed three of her closest friends.
Anna Certowicz, 42, (pictured with her daughter Sophie Russon, right) said her daughter’s friends could maybe have survived the horror crash had police got there sooner
Sophie Russon, 20, was sedated in hospital after going through life-saving surgery after fracturing her skull in the crash, which led to a bleed on her brain
Anna has now hit out at what she called the ‘appalling’ was the police handled the case and criticised their treatment of victims’ families, who had sounded the alarm that they were missing.
Darcy Ross, 21, and Eve Smith, 20, were found dead along with driver Rafel Jeanne, 24, at the scene near St Mellons, Cardiff. Passenger Shane Loughlin, 32, was also injured.
Sophie and co-passenger Shane Loughlin, 32, were stuck in the car for two days after it crashed on the way to a Newport nightclub that Friday night.
The group were believed to have crashed into trees while driving from Cardiff back to Newport, where the women lived.
They veered off the A48 in the St Mellons area of Cardiff and were not found for 48 hours.
Earlier this month, Anna described the ‘miracle’ that her daughter had recovered so well.
Just a month after the March 6 crash she said Sophie was ‘awake, eating and talking’, according to her mother.
Sophie and Shane were left critically injured in the upturned car for 46 hours until police found the wreckage.
Mother-of-three Ms Certowicz was one of 200 people out searching for the five adults.
She revealed that her daughter was ‘conscious some of the time’ in the car after it ran off the A48 in Cardiff and had ‘called out but no one was close enough to hear her.’
Her daughter has been treated with Shane at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and has now been moved to a specialist rehab unit.
Anna previously told the Daily Mail: ‘I feel terrible for the families of Eve and Darcy, they were all best friends and had known each other since they were small’.
She added the only people who knew what happened were her daughter and the other survivor Mr Loughlin, who only met the girls for the first time on Friday night.
She said her daughter was ‘cold, scared stiff, not able to reach her mobile phone’ while stuck in the ruined car.
Ms Certowicz said she first called police at noon the next day after her daughter did not return from the night out on the Friday.
Gwent Police reportedly told her not to worry and said that her daughter was probably still out partying.
Just after 11pm on the Sunday, the service put out their own public appeal.
Sophie was found on the Monday and cut out of the VW Tiguan where she had spent two days alongside her dead friends.
Ms Smith and Mr Jeane had died in the crash in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Sophie Russon, 20, met Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Shane Loughlin, 32, at a club in Newport
Floral tributes left near the scene in the St Mellons area of Cardiff where three people who disappeared on a night out died in a road traffic accident
Assistant Chief Constable Jason Davies, of South Wales Police, previously said: ‘Our thoughts are with the families of all those affected by this tragic incident.
‘Specialist officers are carrying out an investigation to piece together what has happened.
‘Family liaison officers are supporting the families involved at what must be a hugely difficult time for them.
‘To ensure independent oversight, South Wales Police has referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, as is usual in these circumstances.’
