A MOTHER-TO-BE who lost her baby in a "practical joke gone wrong" has bravely vowed: "I won't let this defeat me."

Aspiring business owner Megan Meredith, 22, got out of her car to put rubbish in the bin when friend Keeley Harrison jumped behind the wheel.

Harrison, 20, locked the doors of the Ford Ka and tried to drive away for the prank while she was egged on by friends in the back seat.

But Megan was left hanging on to the windscreen wipers as she tried to stop the car escaping.

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Megan, who aims to set up her own beauty business, says she knows "how dangerous cars are" and would never use them as a "joke".

She said: "I as an individual know how dangerous cars are, and that they are not to be messed around with.

"My whole family has experienced the tragedy of a serious car accident."

She added: "They cause devastation and leave families empty."

Megan was flung from the bonnet and onto the road when her car was travelling up nearly 20mph in Bargoed in March last year.

Prosecutor Nigel Fryer said she found out she was pregnant when she was taken to hospital – but lost the baby after five-hour surgery for her injures.

Megan has now told how it has "always been my dream" to have children and has now bought her first home with fiancé Rhys Weaver.

She said: "Me and Rhys are planning for our future."

Megan suffered a broken right ankle and broken right tibia which required lengthy surgery – and was later told her leg may never recover.

She spent two weeks at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil and had to take six months off work.

She added: "I am still ongoing treatment for my leg still awaiting operations which are delayed due to Covid.

"My physical well-being is far from normal or how I used to be. I still have a lot to achieve and accomplish and I still have goals I want to hit, but I am far from those.

"But I am getting there. I won’t let this defeat me. Not one bit."

Cardiff Crown Court heard Harrison claimed her intention was to play a "practical joke" on Megan – by driving around the corner to make her think they were leaving.

Mr Fryer said: "The car started to roll backwards and Ms Meredith lent on the bonnet, shouting at her not to drive the car, and there was laughing and joking in the vehicle. She also believed they were filming her on a phone.

"She felt the car move forward and was gripping onto the car to try and stop herself from falling. The defendant pulled out of the parking space while she was still on the bonnet and she accelerated up Upper High Street with Ms Meredith's legs dangling down.

"She felt the car was being driven fast and she tried to grab hold of the windscreen wipers but she fell off the front of the car onto her right-hand side.

"She felt confused initially and didn't know if she had passed out but when she tried to get up she described feeing horrific pain in her right leg."

Megan said her friends did not believe she had broken her ankle and told her to get up.

In a victim personal statement, she said: "This incident has ruined my life and I am worried about the future, my leg function, and employment.

"I'm not the person I was before and I don't think I'll ever be the same person again. I now have to live with these injuries for the rest of my life."

Support worker Harrison, of Nelson Terrace, Brithdir, Caerphilly, told police she was driving the vehicle but claimed both parties were responsible.

She pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Defence barrister Jenny Yeo said the pair were no longer friends.

She added: "This is a tragic case for all concerned. It was a prank between two friends that went horribly wrong and my client takes full responsibility for her stupidity and her actions."

Sentencing Judge Jeremy Jenkins handed Harrison an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

He said: "Causing injury to your friend was the last thing on your mind, I have no doubt, but you have acknowledged how dangerous and foolish your actions were."

Harrison was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.