Dickens was travelling with his mistress, Ellen Ternan, and her mother, when on 9 from the wreckage. The crash, however, left him with what would probably now be described as PTSD when travelling at speed - “sudden vague rushes of terror” - even when in a horse-drawn cab. Nor could he bring himself to ride a horse or drive a carriage ever again. The after-effects of this experience contributed to his declining physical health in the late 1860s.
