Mum's dash for the bus to avoid being late for work ended in terrible tragedy

A "WONDERFUL mum" died after she was dragged under the wheels of an NCT bus she ran to catch in the city centre.

- By RUCSANDRA MOLDOVEANU [e-mail]

Helaleh Cheraghmakani, known as Hailey, suffered multiple unsurvivable injuries when she was struck by a bus on October 22 last year in Nottingham city centre.

An inquest at Nottingham Coroners' Court yesterday was told that Hailey, 34, was running to catch the Nottingham City Transport (NCT) Navy Line 49 bus when the collision happened at the junction of George Street and Lower Parliament Street.

Hailey, her husband, Ramin Dehbandi, and daughter, Liana, moved to the UK in September 2023 "for a better future".

The family lived in George Street and Hailey had just accepted a job at Boots, at the company's headquarters in Beeston, days prior to the collision.

She was told by one of her colleagues the evening before the incident that the start date was October 22 instead of October 24, which was the date previously communicated to her.

Ramin then spotted an email from Boots that morning clarifying Hailey's start date was 6am on October 22.

Before she left, Hailey went into her daughter's room and told her she was going to be back for lunch.

Although she knew she was late, she was "determined to get to work".

Hailey ran to catch the bus on George Street, which was expected to depart at 6am, with the service running every 15 minutes at that time of day.

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.