A HAMPSHIRE woman has pleaded with thoughtless drivers to think twice after her life was “ruined” by a driver using a mobile phone.

Sharyn Gunn was 22 when she was involved in an horrific accident caused by a man using a phone at the wheel and said it has affected the rest of her life.

She has today backed a new crackdown on motorists using mobiles at the wheel.

As reported by the Daily Echo yesterday, our reporter caught 32 drivers using the phones at one city junction in less than two hours.

She was sat in her car at traffic lights on The Avenue in 1991 when her life was changed by the actions of a careless driver.

A motorist using an early mobile phone crashed into the back of her at 40mph, and the incident had a devastating impact.

Daily Echo:

Sharyn with 18-year-old son Charlie

At the time she was able to get out of her Mini Metro, which had concertinaed due to the force of the impact, and walk away.

But soon the impact began to take its toll, as muscle damage and pain in her lower back developed into a serious and debilitating condition.

Despite fracturing a bone in her back, she did not realise how serious it was until she underwent an operation to have a titanium rod fitted.

Her injuries and the arthritis that followed forced her to leave the job she loved as a social worker, and means she can no longer drive.

Ms Gunn, 45, from Thornhill, said: “The driver wasn’t paying attention because he was on his phone.

“I can’t drive or work, and there’s always the threat that I’ll end up paralysed as a result of my injuries.

“Everything was taken away from me – it drains the life from you.

“All he had to do was pull over and answer the phone – nothing is that important to risk calling someone when you are driving.

“Nobody needs to die because of the fact you’ve got to answer a phone call, you’ve only got to pull over.”

Hampshire Constabulary says six people were killed or seriously injured last year as a result of collisions involving the use of mobile phones, while another 20 people were less-seriously injured.

Figures show that across the country 73 people died or were seriously injured in the last year, and 327 were injured to a lesser extent.

Spokesper-son for the road safe-|ty charity Brake, James McLou-ghlin, said: “We’re appealing to drivers to put their mobile phone on silent and out of reach, because no call or text is worth a life.

“We also call for traffic policing to be made a national priority, so police have the resources to catch and penalise risky multi-tasking drivers, as well as higher fines to deter phone use by drivers.”