
Harry Redknapp has ruled on the freak accident that saw him hit his wife Sandra with his car.
The former head Spurs and West Ham were seen helping his wife, Sandra, 69, at his home in Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, today after collecting it from Poole Hospital where he had kept overnight .
Sandra, wearing a white and a pink robe to return home £ 4 million, had his right foot in a large pan and was using crutches while Harry placed a supporting arm around him.
Speaking to the house the couple Redknapp, 69, he said: “She’s fine, she is very lucky, it’s made a mess of your ankle.”
Sandra suffered serious injuries after the football commentator removed his foot without realizing his wife and coat were still trapped in the door.
The accident occurred at 11:50 a.m. yesterday when football legend dropped his wife outside a busy shopping area in Westbourne, Bournemouth.
As we went to drive off he took his wife of 49 years with his Range Rover, causing her to fall, he hit his head and hurt his ankle.
Sandra was heard screaming in agony and there was a pool of blood left in the road at the scene, which is about four miles from the couple’s mansion.
Outside the house Redknapp said: “My wife’s fine, she’s had an operation on her ankle that went well.
“It was just a freak accident. Sandra went to cross the road and I thought she’d crossed.
“She’d gone behind the car and to cross over the road. And as I went to drive off…. I sort of drove over her ankle basically.
“It’s lucky. If the full weight of the car had run over the ankle – God knows what would have happened to her and her foot.
“She had an operation last night that went well so we’re okay.”
But the 69-year-old was today released from hospital and her “relieved” husband was seen collecting her from the London hospital.
The football pundit, who did not notice his wife’s foot and coat were trapped as he pulled away, has admitted the accident “could have been worse”.
A source told the Evening Standard: “She’s had an operation. It doesn’t appear anything has been broken – it may have been ligament damage.
“She’s being monitored and may be kept in for a day or two depending on her progress today. The bang on the head is said to be superficial damage, nothing serious.
“Harry is low but relieved as it could have been worse – apparently she fell in a bus lane and obviously it could have been worse had a bus been coming at the time.”
Witnesses to the Bournemouth accident told how Sandra lay screaming with agony as she was dragged along the road by his car in the freak accident.
Horrified onlookers said the ex-Premier League boss, 69, was dropping her off at the shops, but her coat got trapped in the door and her foot was still in the Range Rover’s footwell as it pulled away.
Witnesses said she was sat up and conscious when an ambulance arrived at the scene.
A local shopkeeper said: “I was told he pulled up to let his wife out but before she had completely got out, he went to pull away and she fell over, hitting her head on the floor and breaking her ankle.
“He moved his car out of the way so the ambulance could get to her and then he got in the ambulance with her but I didn’t see what happened after that.
“Everyone was talking about it, at first people thought he had hit a pedestrian and then I heard it was actually his wife.”
An eyewitness who saw the aftermath said: “I saw her in the road and it looked like her leg had gotten trapped in the car. I think she hit her head as there was a fair bit of blood on the ground.
“Someone from Boots went out to help with first aid until the ambulance arrived.”
Another member of the public said: “I saw her sitting on the ground and a policeman was with her, while another officer was holding up the traffic.
“She was sitting up and it didn’t look as if it was anything too serious but she was taken into an ambulance.”
Sandra, also 69, yelled out in pain and Harry slammed on the brakes — but not before her foot had been seriously injured and she was bleeding heavily.
One local said: “I was in a shop and a couple of people came in and said, ‘Crikey, there’s a lady who’s been dragged along the road’.
“Then someone else came in and said it was Harry Redknapp who had just dropped his wife off.
“I heard as he drove off she got her coat caught in the door. She was dragged along the road before he realised.
“I think she has been badly injured.”
There was a lot of blood on the tarmac and Harry was beside himself
One witness said: “There was a lot of blood on the tarmac and Harry was beside himself.
Another shopper said: “I was told Harry pulled up to let his wife out but before she had completely got out, he went to pull away and she fell over.
“He moved his car out of the way so the ambulance could get to her and then he got in the ambulance with her.
“Everyone was talking about it, at first people thought he had hit a pedestrian and then I heard it was actually his wife.”
A shopkeeper said: “A customer said he had run over his wife’s foot.
“I heard Harry was driving and he accidentally ran her over when she got out.”
Others told how the former Tottenham, West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth boss looked shaken as he cared for his stricken wife until an ambulance arrived.
A shop worker said: “I didn’t witness what happened, only the aftermath.
“Harry was up on his feet on his phone when I glanced out.
“It was his wife who was on the ground.
“She was put in the ambulance.”
Hours later the spot on the Bournemouth street where the accident happened was heavily stained with blood.
Sandra, who has been in the audience on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing cheering on daughter-in-law Louise, needed surgery on her injured foot.
Harry was last night at her bedside as she recovered.
He had dropped his wife in Westbourne, about four miles from the couple’s £5million home in the exclusive Sandbanks area of Poole.
The Redknapps are well known in the area and regularly shop there.
A friend of Harry, father of ex-England star and Sky Sports pundit Jamie, said last night: “Sandra did have an accident and was taken to hospital where she had an op.
“It’s a long story, but she should be OK.”
A source close to the Redknapp family added: “Sandra is in hospital but she’s fine.
A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 11.49am to Poole Road, in Bournemouth.
“There was one female casualty in her 60s.
“She had a foot injury and has been taken into hospital.”
In 1990, Harry suffered serious injuries in a crash near Rome which killed friend Brian Tiler.
The pair, who were at the Italia 90 World Cup, were in a minibus that was hit by a car.
The two men became friends when Harry managed the club.
Harry, speaking about his memories of the crash a few years ago, said: “I remember stopping to chat with some Ireland fans — we’d been to see them play Italy.
“After that, I just got back on the bus and fell asleep.
“Brian was sitting next to me.
“The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.”