A woman who was killed when a £100,000 Audi R8 smashed into her sister’s Ford Fiesta was on her way home from her niece’s 16th BIRTHDAY PARTY, police revealed today.
Noreen Ryan, 49, died and her sister Mary, 60, was left seriously injured when they collided with the hired supercar at 11.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday.
Rescue teams, including police, firefighters and ambulance crews, rushed to the scene of the crash in Hall Green, Birmingham.
Noreen was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital and Mary, who was driving the blue Fiesta, remains in a serious condition after being treated for multiple injuries.
Today, it emerged the horror smash occurred just 20 minutes after the sisters had left their niece’s 16th birthday party in nearby Solihull, West Mids.
Noreen’s sister-in-law Maria, 51, said the last time she saw the tragic gran, she even had a piece of birthday cake on her lap.
Paying tribute on behalf of the devastate family, Maria said: “They had been at our home in Solihull on the night of the crash to celebrate our daughter Gemma’s birthday.
“She had been her usual lovely and bubbly self.
“She and Mary left at around 11.10pm with some birthday cake on Noreen’s lap and dropped off my mother on the way back.
“That was the last time we saw her.”
Sister Mary suffered a punctured lung, a broken pelvis, broken ribs and a chipped spine in the crash.
She was due to move out of intensive care on the weekend but is still in a serious condition at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Maria, who is married to the sisters’ brother Christopher, added: “Mary is due to come out of the critical care unit, but she suffered very serious injuries.
“She is a fit girl and did not take the full impact, but Noreen did.”
Birmingham City football fan Noreen lived on her own in Kings Norton, Birmingham, but doted on her grandchildren and her former partner’s children.
And relatives said the popular gran had been discussing plans for her 50th birthday party hours before the horrific crash.
A family tribute to Noreen, the youngest of her seven brothers and sisters, described her as the “heart, spark and soul” of her family.
It said: “Birmingham City was Noreen’s passion in life and she was a season ticket holder who never missed a match.
“But her family was also very important to her and she was a much-loved stepmother, step grandmother, daughter, sister and aunty to her nieces and nephews.
“Noreen was the heart, spark and soul of her family. She was over-generous and loved buying presents at Christmas and birthdays.
“She enjoyed a glass of prosecco with the girls and had a great sense of humour and some fantastic one-liners.
“She had watched all of Birmingham City’s home matches with her brother John since they were kids. She always had the last word on football debates.”
The 24-year-old driver of the Audi was arrested when he handed himself into a police station after initially fleeing the scene of the collision
The man, from Acocks Green, Birmingham, was quizzed on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
He has been bailed by police until October while officers conduct a full investigation into the circumstances of the crash.
Sergeant Chris Jones, from West Midlands Police, said: “Our deepest sympathies go to the family of Noreen.
“We are determined to establish the circumstances which led to her death and we are asking anyone who saw the collision and has not yet spoken to us to contact the Collision Investigation Unit.”
Last week it emerged the Audi was a hired vehicle costing £600-a-day to rent out.
