Heroic mother, 30, dies after pushing her two-year-old daughter out of the way of an oncoming lorry which struck her moments later: Heartbroken partner pays tribute to 'my light in the darkest of nights'

• Rebecca Ableman worked as a NHS healthcare assistant and had one child
• She used her last seconds as the lorry approached to shove the pram away
• A 67-year-old driver was arrested for causing serious injury and failing to stop
• Her partner Chris Tuczemskyi is now fundraising for daughter Autumn's future

A hero mother tragically died after being struck by a lorry which she pushed her two-year-old daughter away from moments before.

NHS healthcare assistant Rebecca (Becky) Ableman, 30, was walking to a local shop with her two-year-old daughter Autumn when she was tragically hit by a lorry carrying a crane in Cambridgeshire.

Her partner, Chris Tuczemskyi, said an eyewitness saw Rebecca shove the pram, containing two-year-old Autumn, away from her just seconds before she was struck.

Mr Tuczemskyi, 34, said: 'We planned to get married but life got in the way. It's tough, especially with Autumn. They were so close.

'Because she's only two she is finding it hard to understand what's happened. She still cries for her mummy, especially at night.

'Having to deal with everything, grieve and look after her at the same time and make sure she has everything she needs is extremely difficult.

'I know a lot of people would feel angry [with the driver] but I've got my daughter to focus on.'

Paying tribute to Becky, he said: 'To me she was my light in the darkest of nights, my rock for when I stumbled and my best friend. 

'She made me a better person, she pushed me to be and do better because she could see my potential when I could not.' 

A 67-year-old man has been arrested and released on bail for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident on September 22.

Becky was pushing her daughter in a pram heading towards a local farm shop when the lorry hit her on Station Road in their village of Willingham at 11.20am.

Mr Tuczemskyi said: 'An eyewitness saw that just as the lorry hit Becky [Rebecca] she pushed Autumn out of the way in the pram.

'Otherwise the pram would have been swept up with the lorry.

'They then tended to Becky and made sure Autumn couldn't see what was happening.

'The eyewitness's partner then came out and took Autumn to the other side of the road and made sure she was happy and playing.'

The first he heard of the incident was when he got a notification from his digital doorbell showing the police standing on his doorstep.

Mr Tuczemskyi, who works in marketing, was out of the country at a conference when the incident happened.

After not being able to contact his partner he asked her father to go and check on her.

The police finally got hold of her father and redirected him to the hospital where she'd been taken via air ambulance.

Thanks to her mother, their only daughter Autumn came away from the incident uninjured.

Rebecca died three weeks later on October 16 of traumatic brain injury in the Neuro ICU of Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.

She had worked in a hospital in Cambridge with mental health patients, and was described as 'having a passion for helping people, she wasn't afraid to get stuck in, she was the one that all her colleagues could rely on.'

The last exchange the couple had together were texts about whether they should get fish and chips for dinner.

Mr Tuczemskyi is now raising funds to donate to the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Neuro ICU, the staff of which had become 'like family' in the three weeks the family spent there.

He has already reached almost £4,000 over his £10,000 goal on the GoFundMe page for his wife.

He also plans to raise money for Autumn to explore the world and create a memorial bench for her late mother.

He said: 'What happened shows how cruel and horrid life can be.

'Then when you get strangers, friends and colleagues donating, especially at a time when everyone is trying to save, it means a lot.

'The Neuro ICU staff were like family, some came to the funeral.

'When we cried, they cried. They did everything possible to bring Becky back to us.'

Mr Tuczemskyi now intends to keep going to raise as much money as possible and will also be creating a memorial bench in memory of Becky in Willingham Community Orchard.

He said they have never been a family that would ask for money but aims to raise more for a trust fund for Autumn.

On the fundraiser, he wrote: 'This will be for Autumn for when she's 18.

'She will be encouraged to use it to follow in her mummy's footsteps of travelling around the world, amongst other amazing things.

'No amount of money could replace the hole Becky's passing will leave in our beautiful daughter's life, but I hope it can in some way help her feel closer to her mummy.'

He added: He said: 'My wish is that she can see that the world is a beautiful place and not the nightmare it currently is for us all.'

Dozens of friends and family members have left touching tributes to Rebecca on the page, which at time of publication had raised just shy of £14,000.