AN eyewitness described the moment she saw a woman fly through the air after being hit by a car.

Elizabeth Stedman was walking home when she heard a screech of brakes.

She then saw Winifred Quick propelled through the air and land in the road just metres from her.

At an inquest into Mrs Quick’s death Miss Stedman said: “She flew at least six feet, I dropped my shopping and ran into the road. I thought she was dead, then I realised she was unconscious and she started to murmur after a while.”

The accident happened on Friday, July 25, at 3.15pm.

Mrs Quick was attempting to cross Worcester Road in Malvern but failed to look both ways.

She stepped into the path of a Toyota Landcruiser which was travelling at about 21mph (33kph).

The driver, Victoria Cockayne, was going home for lunch when the 87-year-old stepped in front of the vehicle.

She told the coroner she saw Mrs Quick standing at the side of the road, look one way and then straight ahead.

“I started to slow down and then the person walked straight into the path of the car, I tried to brake but there was no way I could avoid her,” said Mrs Cockayne.

Mrs Quick, who moved to Malvern 30 years ago from Wales, fractured her pelvis in the accident and was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital. She died four days later after developing pneumonia as result of being immobile from her hip fracture.

Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: “It seems fairly obvious that for whatever reason she did not notice the presence of Victoria Cockayne on the road and stepped out. It was an accident.”

Speaking after the inquest in Stourpourt-on-Severn, Mrs Quick’s 57-year-old son Gary Quick said: “She was a very sociable person, everybody loved her.

“She was a fantastic mother to me and my brother.”

He said his mother loved writing poetry and walking in the Malvern Hills.