THE pedestrian mowed down and maimed by disqualified driver Dale Curtis has told how his life was destroyed by the crash five months ago.

Surgeons have carried out four operations to try to reconstruct the 59-year-old Darlington man's leg, as well as a number of skin grafts.

The keen walker is now virtually house-bound, and his wife is his full-time carer, Teesside Crown Court was told when Curtis was jailed.

Judge Simon Phillips, QC, said the victim could have been killed after 22-year-old Curtis was seen by witnesses driving "like a lunatic".

The man said in a statement read to the court that he had always been fit and active, and now suffers daily pain and limited mobility.

He does not know when a leg frame will be removed, and at a hospital visit to have a pin taken out, ankle tendon damage was diagnosed.

Judge Phillips told Curtis: "It is clear your selfish and criminal conduct has brought about life-changing consequences for the couple.

"Your victim is dependent upon the support of his wife to make daily living at home possible. Their day-to-day life has been ruined.

"Their plans for the present and the future have been thrown into turmoil. The life he now leads is a shadow of what it used to be.

"He does not know when the frame around his leg will be removed, or how mobile he will be in the future.

"What he and his wife do know is they have had to cancel holidays they had booked, and their former social life has been destroyed.

"The consequences of your offending has been catastrophic. The emotional impact upon the two of them has been profound.

"It is clear from her personal statement that the effect on her husband's injuries have had massive implications for her.

"The independent life they had has been destroyed. She says her life has been turned upside down in a way she describes as a nightmare.

"Their home has become a medical recovery unit - not a place for relaxation.

"She feels very much the forgotten victim of this incident and its devastating result."

The judge added: "One feature of the case is your response to all this.

"The Facebook entries posted by you in September indicate that you continued at that time to be self-centred."