UPDATE: |Mum dies after being dragged under bus she was running for to get to new job News

Helaleh Cheraghmakani had narrowly missed the bus by seconds on the day she was due to start a new job at Boots

A ‘wonderful mum’ tragically lost her life after being dragged under the wheels of a bus she was attempting to catch on her first day at a new job. Helaleh Cheraghmakani, known as Hailey, sustained multiple injuries when she was hit by a bus in Nottingham city centre on October 22 last year.

An inquest held at Nottingham Coroners’ Court heard that Hailey, 34, was running to catch the Nottingham City Transport (NCT) Navy Line 49 bus when the incident occurred at the junction of George Street and Lower Parliament Street. Hailey, along with her husband, Ramin Dehbandi, and daughter, Liana, had moved to the UK in September 2023 “for a better future”.

The family lived on George Street and Hailey had recently accepted a position at Boots, at the company’s headquarters in Beeston, just days before the tragic incident. A colleague had informed Hailey the evening before the accident that her start date was October 22, not October 24 as previously communicated, reports the Mirror.

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On the morning of the incident, her husband noticed an email from Boots confirming Hailey’s start time as 6am on October 22. Before leaving for work, Hailey told her daughter she would be back for lunch.

Despite knowing she was running late, she was “determined to get to work”. She ran to catch the 6am bus on George Street, a service that runs every 15 minutes at that time.

The court was told how the bus driver, Anthony Watson, left the stop 45 seconds early, with the company’s policy stating that buses can leave up to a minute early and up to five minutes late. In a statement read to the court on behalf of Mr Watson, he recalled that he suddenly heard a bang on the nearside of the bus.

He said: “I don’t know what the bang was. It was just a noise on the side of the bus. I don’t know where it came from. I didn’t see anything. It startled me.”

DC Liah Lane, of Nottinghamshire Police, told the hearing how Hailey hit the passenger doors while she was standing in the road as the bus was turning onto Lower Parliament Street. The woman then likely got clipped by the nearside wheel of the bus and then dragged under it by the back wheel, the hearing was told.

Mr Watson was driving at 8-10mph as he was making the turn but he was not indicating left and this did not contribute to the collision, coroner Nathanael Hartley said. Mr Watson’s statement read: “As I looked in my mirror, I saw the nearside wheels go over a person’s torso. I don’t know where she came from. As soon as I saw the wheels over her, I applied the brakes, I stopped, got off the bus and ran towards the pedestrian. I didn’t get too close to her.

“I realised that I needed to get help. I then ran straight back to the bus as I didn’t know what was happening. I was in complete shock. There was nothing that I could have done as I hadn’t seen her prior to the collision.

“This was a tragic accident which was out of my control. I couldn’t have done anything differently. I didn’t see her until the point of collision. I didn’t know that she was running for my bus. Quite often we get members of the public banging on the windows asking us to stop the bus. We can’t do it. It’s against the law.”

The hearing was told that Mr Watson had been a bus driver for 14 years and had driven on the 49 route for 11 prior to the collision. Coroner Hartley added that the driver’s reaction to Hailey’s “sudden” presence at the side of the bus was “quick and certainly what the police considered to be reasonable”.

Hailey would also “not have been obvious” to Mr Watson. In his testimony, he expressed: “I think about the collision daily. I feel for the deceased lady and her family. There isn’t an hour that goes by where I don’t think about her. What upsets me the most is that she’s left a child behind. The deceased is the same age as one of my daughters. It upsets me that she’ll never see her child again. I’d like to offer my condolences to her family.”

In a statement read to the court on behalf of Ramin, the father explained that in Iran, where the couple are originally from, it is common practice for the bus to stop if you wave your hands at it. Coroner Hartley recorded a conclusion of road traffic accident.

During the proceedings, a statement read on behalf of Ramin said: “With her kindness and brilliant smile, Hailey brought joy and warmth into our lives. She was a wonderful mother, a determined and loving partner, and the source of our home’s calm and happiness. She always filled our days with excitement and love.”

Following the inquest, he added: “My heart and my life were broken the moment we lost Helaleh and our world has been destroyed. She was a wonderful wife and mother and I loved her with all my heart. To make the incredibly painful situation even worse our daughter Liana blames me for her mummy not being there, that I am stopping her from coming back to her and calls me ‘daddy monster’.

“She asked me the other day if I would let mummy pick her up one day from nursery and I could not sleep from the sorrow. The pain is too much for me to bear, I feel like my life is over, but I must remain strong for Liana to give her the life Helaleh wanted for her.”

Daniel Denton, a specialist personal injury partner at Hodge Jones and Allen, who represents Ramin, said: “This is such an unimaginably tragic case that has devastated the lives of my client and his daughter. Their loving wife and mother were snatched away from them and we need answers as to how this could have been allowed to happen. We will continue our fight for answers and for justice for Helaleh through the civil courts.”

An NCT spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with everyone involved and affected, including our driver who we continue to support following the collision. We send our deepest sympathies to Helaleh’s family and friends.” A GoFundMe page was previously launched to support Ms Cheraghmakani’s husband and young daughter, raising £14,026.