Camden New Journal - News: Anguish of mother

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Camden New Journal - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 20 September 2007

Mum Raquel Sanches: ‘She was a little angel’

Anguish of mother who cradled baby struck by hit-and-run driver

Coroner’s unlawful killing verdict on death of toddler as family holidayed in Ecuador

A HEARTBROKEN mother has described how she clutched her dying baby in her arms after the little girl was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
Toddler Jessica Rakowski, who was just 20 months, was holding her uncle’s hand as she walked down a road in the tiny village of Santa Elena in Ecuador when a taxi hit them in July last year.
As her uncle fell to the ground, he lost hold of Jessica, and the driver reversed over her in his haste to flee the scene. The driver has never been found.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid ruled at an inquest on Thursday that baby Jessica had been unlawfully killed, the strongest possible verdict.
Jessica’s mother, Raquel Sanches, who lives in Stanhope Street, Regent’s Park Estate, said: “The only comfort I have is that I enjoyed her every single minute. Even from a very tiny age she touched so many hearts. She was so good, so easy going. I kept her so close to me.
“She was a tiny little one. When the driver tried to escape probably he didn’t see her. That’s when he hit her. I just ran. I couldn’t leave her there. I just took her in my arms. I only held her but she didn’t have any chance.”
Mrs Sanches said she and her husband, builder Marek Rakowski, with Jessica and their two sons, had gone to South America to visit relatives. “We went to Ecuador for the first time in 15 years,” she said. “Jessica was just a baby. It was the first time they saw the children. Everyone was so happy to see them. All of them wanted to cuddle her. She was a little angel.
“My brother was holding Jessica’s hand. I was behind. I stopped to get my eldest a drink when suddenly I heard a scream.
“The car hit my brother on the legs. At that moment he lost grip of Jessica’s hands. My husband didn’t speak Spanish. I only saw in his eyes the deep anguish, the pain. I couldn’t even cry for her. I had to deal with all the paperwork.”
Mrs Sanches is now preparing to give birth again. She said: “God has given us a second chance, another opportunity. The doctor says it’s another girl.
“Sometimes the boys still cry. They miss Jessie so much. Both of them have been so concerned about me because this pregnancy has been so up and down. The eldest says: ‘Mummy, I hope nothing happens to the baby.’ They want pictures of Jessie around us.”
Speaking of the investigation by Ecuadorian authorities into Jessica’s death, she said: “We couldn’t do much. My family tried but in Ecuador the law is very tricky.”
Coroner’s officer Allan Pearce told the inquest: “The registered owner of the taxi was interviewed by the Ecuadorian police and claimed he had sold it on. The current owner was required by police to attend the station and subsequently never appeared and that’s where the investigation ended.”
Verdict: unlawful killing.

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