A woman whose ankle was broken when a car hit her on a zebra crossing earlier this month is appealing to the public for information after the driver failed to stop.

Lenie Buendia has been left hobbling and in pain after what was supposed to be a routine shopping trip ended up leaving her housebound and unable to carry out her day-to-day tasks.

Buendia, who is from the Philippines, was going to meet her cousin at a shopping mall in Mosta and took the bus from her home in Buġibba on November 12.

She said at around 7.30pm, she got off the bus at the Mosta Technopark and walked a few metres to cross the road.

“I remember it was raining that day, but by the evening it had stopped or was raining very lightly and intermittently,” Buendia told Times of Malta.

“I walked to the zebra crossing across the street from an auto dealer. The cars stopped for me at the first lane, so I crossed. Traffic did not immediately stop at the second, so I waited before crossing.

“I saw a clear window and started to move... that’s when a car hit me.”

Buendia was hit on the hip and knocked over. The driver, she says, then ran over her foot.

“All I can remember is that the car was green and after he hit me he stopped a little ahead of the roundabout,” she said.

“I thought the driver would come and see what happened. But he never got out of the car and drove off.”

A second car did stop and provide assistance. They were a man and a woman who she believes may have recorded the details of the car that hit her.

In the chaos of the moment, she neglected to exchange contact details with them.

“They offered to take me to the hospital, but I called my cousin to come and help me instead,” Buendia said.

“I told him to take me home.”

‘This will cost me some €2,000’

It was only after Buendia recounted the events of the evening to a friend that she went to file a police report and went to the hospital.

“My friend took me to Mater Dei at around 11.30pm where a doctor saw me. I got an x-ray and they told me that my ankle was broken and would require surgery,” she said.

“Unfortunately, this will cost me some €2,000 and I simply cannot afford it. I have two children in the Philippines for whom I am the sole breadwinner. I also have to provide for myself in Malta and I just don’t have the money.”

The ordeal has left her in agony and riddled with anxiety.

“I am consumed by stress because I cannot work, I am worried my foot may get infected and every taxi ride to the hospital is a drain on my expenses on top of the surgery I cannot pay for.”

All she wants, Buendia continues, is for justice to be done and for the person who is responsible to come forward and do the right thing.

“What happened to me is a crime. I am a human being, you know, it’s ruining my life.”

A police spokesperson confirmed that a report has been lodged and that an investigation is ongoing.

Anyone who may have any information about the incident they would like to share can send an email to leniebuendia29@yahoo.com