A 25-year-old woman from Australia was injured and one of her two dogs killed after being struck by a motorcycle in a hit-and-run incident in Gournes, Heraklion.
The incident occurred on the old national road when a motorcycle without licence plates allegedly travelling at high speed hit the woman as she was walking with her dogs.
Witnesses said the rider had a hood on, no lights, and fled the scene after falling from the bike, abandoning the victim and the animals.
The woman sustained injuries to her arm and was taken to PAGNI hospital, where she was treated and placed in a cast. Her life is not in danger. One of her dogs, a Labrador, was thrown several metres by the impact and died instantly.
“If he had hit Milena, he would have been killed instantly. The dog got in the way, so he was hit first and died instantly, and then he hit Milena,” a friend said.
Speaking to Neakriti.gr, the woman described the moments of the crash: “I went for a walk with my dog, Lila, and Koko, whom I was hosting for a few days. And we were finishing the walk and wanted to cross the street, and then a scooter, a motorcycle, came and hit us.”
“I fell to the ground, and Lila was hit by the bike and thrown all the way across the street… I needed someone to help me and take her to the vet… but she died. She didn’t make it. My baby didn’t make it.”
Her friend said the driver abandoned her after the crash. “Essentially, this is a typical case where the offender abandons the victim. Here we have the loss of an innocent life,” she said, adding that the woman has been living in the area for two months and works as a Pilates and yoga teacher.
“She chose to live in Greece, to work, to offer… And yet, we have caused her the opposite,” the friend said.