A WOMAN lost consciousness at the wheel of her car and ploughed into a cyclist after taking five or six bags of cocaine at a party just hours earlier.

Senior IT consultant Stephen Derbyshire was left with severe head injuries, fractured spine and other fractures after being hurled into the air and against a lamppost on Lever Park Avenue, Horwich.

Bolton Crown Court heard how the quick actions of others, including retired nurse Christine Holt, saved his life.

Mrs Holt gave Mr Derbyshire CPR after he stopped breathing before an air ambulance took him to Preston Royal Infirmary.

A keen cyclist, he had been out for a ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon on June 10 last year.

Mother-of-four Kelly Sumner stood in the dock with her head turned away from the public gallery, where several members of 58-year-old Mr Derbyshire’s family sat, as Judge Timothy Stead sentenced her to three years in prison.

She had earlier pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drug driving and having no insurance.

The court how 35-year-old Sumner had been at a party where she had drunk vodka and cider and did not go to bed until 3am.

Following the collision a blood test revealed she had more than 800 micrograms of BZE, a metabolite of cocaine in her system — 16 times the legal limit for driving of 50 micrograms.

The day after the party she got into her Nissan Micra, which was not insured, and drove.

Witnesses described how she went around a right hand bend on Lever Park Avenue just before 1pm, but instead of following the curve of the road, continued in a straight line into the opposite carriageway and hit Mr Derbyshire.

The cyclist ricocheted off the car’s bonnet and windscreen and was flung 10 to 12 feet in the air into a lamppost before landing on the pavement.

The collision was seen by Andrew Holt, who was driving home form Church with his wife.

Duncan Wilcock, prosecuting, said: “He said that the driver took no evasive action.”

Sumner stopped and got out of her car, telling one witness: “I think I fell asleep at the wheel.”

Judge Stead commented: “She rendered herself so fatigued or intoxicated, or both, when, at a time when she should have been driving in a sensible and responsible manner in the easiest of conditions, she became unconscious herself.”

Mr Wilcock told how Mr Derbyshire suffered a cardiac arrest and was in a coma, only being discharged from hospital five months later.

A brain injury has left him needing round-the-clock care, with the grandfather unable the lead the independent life he once had.

A moving statement, outlining the impact of his injuries on his family, written by his wife Patricia, was read out in court by their daughter Leah Derbyshire.

She said: “On June 10 our lives were changed forever by a selfish, reckless act.

“I miss my husband immensely, but nobody misses his life more than Stephen does.”

Mr Wilcock added that Mr Derbyshire’s family are grateful for the efforts made by people who stopped at the scene.

He added: “The family are in no doubt, but for the efforts at the time at the scene, bad though the situation is now for Mr Derbyshire, it may well have been his life would have ended at the roadside.”

Jon Close, defending Sumner, of Wright Street, Chorley, described her as a hard-working single mum.

He added that she suffers from PTSD, depression, nightmares and has planned to kill herself since the collision.

"She has not go behind the wheel of a car since and never intends to again," said Mr Close.

"It is difficult to imagine the pain the family does feel and will continue to feel and all she can say is 'sorry'."

Jailing Sumner for three years and banning her from driving for four years and six months, after which she will have to take an extended retest, Judge Stead told her: "Several months after the incident in question it is apparent that Mr Derbyshire's life has been substantially ruined.

"It is not an offence committed by someone who set out to cause harm, but that is what has happened. There is no doubt that in a case of this kind and immediate custodial penalty is an inevitability."

Sumner's Nissan was also seized and the judge made a deprivation order taking it from her.

In a statement following the sentencing Mr Derbyshire's family said: "On June 10 2018 Stehen was out enjoying a bike ride when he sustained injuries which would change his life.

"After months of intensive care and rehabilitation, which is still continuing now, Stephen is slowly trying to rebuild his life with the unwavering support of his family.

"The Derbyshire family would like to thank Greater Manchester Police for their work in pursuing this prosecution, with particular thanks Seamus Toal and Phil Shaw who have been a constant support to them through this daunting process.

"They would also like to thank all the NHS staff and the North West Air Ambulance Service who treated Stephen following his accident.

"If anything can come from this, the Derbyshire family hope that this prosecution will deter anyone tempted to drive under the influence so that no family has to go through what they have had to over the last eight months."