A mother-of-two left paralysed from the waist down after a hit-and-run said she would have “given up” on life because of the pain if it wasn’t for her children.

Single mother Chanelle Higgins was on a night out in West Norwood when her and her friend were mowed down BMW that then failed to stop, police said.

The devastating incident in Norwood High Street, near Scandals nightclub, left her wheelchair bound with limited upper-body movement.

As part of a fresh appeal for witnesses following the collision on May 29 last year, Ms Higgins appeared on BBC’s Crimewatch on Monday, March 6.

Your Local Guardian:

Chanelle Higgins was left with life-changing injuries after the hit-and-run

Your Local Guardian:

CCTV footage caught the moment Ms Higgins was run down by a BMW

She told the show: “The last thing I remember was going in the ambulance and screaming about my legs hurting, my legs hurting and trying to reach for my legs and then blacking out and waking up in a hospital bed with all tubes in my mouth my neck my nose.

"And they told me that I was paralysed and I had very limited use to my hands - it was just horrible. If I'm honest I just wanted to die there and then.

"If I didn't have kids I would have given up because it was so hard, so painful.”

On 16 June a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He was released on bail until December.

Ms Higgins’ appeal aired on BBC One on Monday at 9pm and is still available to view on iPlayer.