A young mother has described how she and her unborn child miraculously survived a horrific crash when a boy racer ploughed into a tree at 120mph, trapping her in the wreckage as it burst into flames. Chloe Batchelar, 21, said she begged Jack Schofield, 24, to slow down moments before he lost control of his souped-up black Audi S3 at an unauthorised car meet on April 19 last year.
Chloe reluctantly got into the car with the driver after her friend had met him on Snapchat just the day before. A court heard how Schofield took the two women for a ride along a makeshift circuit between two roundabouts in Northampton. After hitting 123mph, he smashed into a kerb, rolled the car, and crashed into trees, leaving both passengers seriously injured.
Chloe suffered a severe burn to her back after the car exploded, along with 15 fractures in her back, two in her neck, a bleed on her heart, and severe head wounds. She has now bravely spoken out about having to learn to walk again and suffering constant headaches. However, she expressed immense relief that both she and her unborn child survived the impact, and she gave birth to her daughter Ava on November 27.
The crash and its aftermath
Chloe, from Daventry, said her friend agreed to meet Schofield at the unauthorised meet after connecting on Snapchat the day before, while Chloe was eight weeks pregnant. She said: 'I didn't personally know Jack. The other girl, my friend in the crash with me, knew Jack. It was a car meet, we went, I didn't really want to go. I was eight weeks pregnant. She said we were meeting this Jack person that she'd met on Snapchat a day before.'
'We went to the location and Jack was there. I made a clear point that I was pregnant there and then. I said I'm not getting in his car if he ever asks me, there was no way. My friend said "come on, Chloe, let's go" but I felt sick. He was like, "come on lets go". I gave in as they were pestering me. He went up the track and started speeding and I asked him to slow down and not to show off.'
'I did see the speeds. When I felt the car go too fast I asked him to slow down. I don't know how he did over 120mph. I don't remember much after that.'
Single mum Chloe was left trapped in the car after the smash while Jack and the other passenger escaped. According to Chloe, the boy racer was more concerned about his ruined car than her being trapped inside. She added: 'I was in backseat passenger side. They pulled his door off and he was sat there crying because his window was broken, saying "oh my god, look at my windows". I was still in the car while it was on fire, which was horrible. All he cared about was the window. He had fresh star lights installed so he was more upset about ruining those.'
'Everyone around us was recording it as the car was on fire, but they didn't realise I was in there. Loads of people got bottles of water to try and put it out but it kept relighting. My phone actually rang the police, it sort of saved me.'
Miracle birth and recovery
Despite fearing a miscarriage, Chloe gave birth to Ava, weighing 7lb 8oz, at Northampton General Hospital. She added: 'When I was rushed into hospital I thought I'd had a miscarriage, I kept telling them to check on me. I was trapped in there and I thought we were both going to die. They reassured me quite quickly, but those first few minutes were horrible. I was just saying "oh my god, thank god". I wouldn't stop telling them I had a miscarriage until they did tests and reassured me.'
'They said if I was in the car any longer I would've lost her, because all I inhaled was smoke. From the videos the fire and smoke was massive. In hospital, I kept having regular scans, and then I ended up having my 20-week scan in hospital as I was in there that long. On her scan she was just sat pouting, so she was all fine. When it came to the birth I was only in labour an hour, which is a miracle really. It was very smooth in the end.'
Since the crash, Chloe has suffered lasting effects including daily headaches, back ache, and physical scars. She said: 'I had 15 fractures to my back, two to my neck, fractured ribs, something wrong with my lung, a bleed on my heart, scar on my head and a burn on my back. And all that's at eight weeks pregnant. Apparently, the seat belt was wrapped around my neck and that's how I got the two fractures. I had to learn how to walk again. I went into hospital and they told me I had to learn to walk again. I got put in ICU and then they came in with a back brace to try help.'
'I got took out of ICU and put onto a ward, and every time I got out of bed I had to have the back brace on. It took me two weeks to be able to walk - I was literally adamant I was going to walk again. I was in hospital for two months. They had to check my baby and then I had an infection on the burn in my back. When I went home, I had a hospital bed and had carers for a few weeks. I still live with a bad back ache and they said I have postnatal trauma. I think I'm getting rehab for my back as it hurts every day. If I walk a certain distance, my legs give in.'
'I get headaches every day, they're quite bad. Some of them are bearable now, but I do get them every day. I don't know if it's from the scar or from concussion. I've got to do more physio. My spine is lopsided too.'
Sentence and police comment
In April, Schofield was jailed for two years at Northampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Schofield, of Bedworth, was also disqualified from driving for three years and must sit an extended test before he can drive again.
Detective constable Lee Norton, of Northamptonshire Police, said after the case: 'Unauthorised events on public roads aren't just illegal, but as this case highlights, this kind of irresponsible behaviour always puts lives at risk. Jack Schofield was not only fortunate to have walked away from this horrific crash relatively unscathed, but he was incredibly lucky that no-one was killed because of his stupidity that night. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for his two passengers who will have to live with both the physical and psychological trauma of this incident for the rest of their lives.'
