Harry Redknapp’s relief as his wife Sandra recovers after he ran her over leaving her screaming in agony
Sandra was seriously injured yesterday when she was dragged along a road by his Range Rover
HARRY Redknapp has said he is "relieved" wife Sandra is recovering after he ran her over with his Range Rover yesterday.
The former Premier League manager is said to have felt "low" after wife Sandra was knocked down by his motor on a busy high street.
Sandra, 69, was seriously injured when she was dragged along a road by her husband's Range Rover yesterday.
She was left screaming in agony as her foot got trapped inside the car when Harry pulled away after dropping her at the shops.
The football pundit, who did not notice his wife's foot and coat were trapped as he pulled away, has admitted the accident "could have been worse".
A source told the : "She’s had an operation. It doesn’t appear anything has been broken - it may have been ligament damage.
“She’s being monitored and may be kept in for a day or two depending on her progress today. The bang on the head is said to be superficial damage, nothing serious.
“Harry is low but relieved as it could have been worse - apparently she fell in a bus lane and obviously it could have been worse had a bus been coming at the time.”
Witnesses to the Bournemouth accident told how Sandra lay screaming with agony as she was dragged along the road by his car in the freak accident.
Horrified onlookers said the ex-Premier League boss, 69, was dropping her off at the shops, but her coat got trapped in the door and her foot was still in the Range Rover’s footwell as it pulled away.
Sandra, also 69, yelled out in pain and Harry slammed on the brakes — but not before her foot had been seriously injured and she was bleeding heavily.
One local said: “I was in a shop and a couple of people came in and said, ‘Crikey, there’s a lady who’s been dragged along the road’.
“Then someone else came in and said it was Harry Redknapp who had just dropped his wife off.
“I heard as he drove off she got her coat caught in the door. She was dragged along the road before he realised.
“I think she has been badly injured.”
There was a lot of blood on the tarmac and Harry was beside himself
One witness said: “There was a lot of blood on the tarmac and Harry was beside himself.
“It was just a freak accident.”
Another shopper said: “I was told Harry pulled up to let his wife out but before she had completely got out, he went to pull away and she fell over.
“He moved his car out of the way so the ambulance could get to her and then he got in the ambulance with her.
“Everyone was talking about it, at first people thought he had hit a pedestrian and then I heard it was actually his wife.”
A shopkeeper said: “A customer said he had run over his wife’s foot.
“I heard Harry was driving and he accidentally ran her over when she got out.”
Others told how the former Tottenham, West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth boss looked shaken as he cared for his stricken wife until an ambulance arrived.
A shop worker said: “I didn’t witness what happened, only the aftermath.
“Harry was up on his feet on his phone when I glanced out.
“It was his wife who was on the ground.
“She was put in the ambulance.”
Hours later the spot on the Bournemouth street where the accident happened was heavily stained with blood.
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Sandra, who has been in the audience on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing cheering on daughter-in-law Louise, needed surgery on her injured foot.
Harry was last night at her bedside as she recovered.
He had dropped his wife in Westbourne, about four miles from the couple’s £5million home in the exclusive Sandbanks area of Poole.
The Redknapps are well known in the area and regularly shop there.
A friend of Harry, father of ex-England star and Sky Sports pundit Jamie, said last night: “Sandra did have an accident and was taken to hospital where she had an op.
“It’s a long story, but she should be OK.”
A source close to the Redknapp family added: “Sandra is in hospital but she’s fine.
“It’s a private family matter.”
A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 11.49am to Poole Road, in Bournemouth.
“There was one female casualty in her 60s.
“She had a foot injury and has been taken into hospital.”
In 1990, Harry suffered serious injuries in a crash near Rome which killed friend Brian Tiler.
The pair, who were at the Italia 90 World Cup, were in a minibus that was hit by a car.
Three young Italians also died.
Brian was a former AFC Bournemouth managing director.
The two men became friends when Harry managed the club.
Harry, speaking about his memories of the crash a few years ago, said: “I remember stopping to chat with some Ireland fans — we’d been to see them play Italy.
“After that, I just got back on the bus and fell asleep.
“Brian was sitting next to me.
“The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.”