British ex-girlfriend of US soccer star fighting for her life after being injured in St. Louis gunfight speaks out from hospital

The ex-girlfriend of an American soccer star fighting for her life after a horror hit-and-run has broken her silence weeks after being caught in a shootout on the streets of St. Louis. 

Ellie Bentley, 22, suffered horrific injuries that have led to five major reconstructive surgeries after being run over and dragged down the street by a driver fleeing a shooting on February 25. 

After finally regaining consciousness on Saturday following weeks in the ICU, Bentley took to Instagram on Tuesday to tell her supporters, 'I appreciate all the kindness.' 

The British woman, who moved to the US last year with her then-boyfriend Indiana Vassilev, was hiding underneath a vehicle when a gun battle broke out, causing the driver to speed away with Bentley in tow. 

A GoFundMe has since surpassed $18,000 to help her family's mounting medical bills, which the fundraiser said have been 'compounded by Ellie and her family's non-American citizenship.' 

When Bentley was injured, cops were already responding to the scene at 2:52am following reports of shots fired, which came after a group reportedly attempted to get into the wrong car. 

The mix-up led 35-year-old Andre T. Wilson to allegedly open fire on the group, hitting a 25-year-old man five times in the chest, according to Wilson's arrest affidavit reported by FirstAlert4. 

Wilson then allegedly fled the scene on foot, while the victim was rushed to hospital in critical but stable condition. 

At the same moment, witnesses reportedly flagged down responding officers after Bentley was struck in the hit and run, before she was dragged several blocks down the street. 

The alleged driver of the vehicle was quickly identified as Dionte Taylor, 25, who has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident that caused physical injury. 

Prosecutors then charged Wilson a week after the shooting with first degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm. He is being held without bond.  

Bentley was rushed to hospital having suffered several broken limbs and was placed in intensive care for two weeks, before finally being released on Saturday. 

She has since undergone five major reconstructive surgeries and will have additional operations in the near future.

Her family has since traveled from the UK to be by her side as she continues to make a recovery, with a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for mounting medical expenses. 

However, her attorney, Ben Tobin, said her path to recovery will be a long one.

'She had just gotten out of a car when the shooting started,' he explained to The Sun. 

'She ducked down behind another vehicle until the shooting stopped, but then the person whose car she was hiding behind floored it, hit her, ran her over, and dragged her for a couple of blocks.'

Tobin said Bentley had no connection to either party involved in the shooting and was simply an unfortunate bystander. 

'She was pretty sure she was going to die as she was dragged underneath the vehicle,' he said.

'For the entire time, she was lying there trying to hold on and do whatever she could so she didn't end up getting kicked out under the wheel.'

Tobin noted how video footage appeared to show the driver who hit Bentley was well aware of her presence when he fled the scene, running her over in the process.

'Based on the video, there's no way for the individual that hit her and ran her over and dragged her to argue that he did not know that she was underneath the vehicle when he took off,' he said. 

A witness to the horror hit-and-run, Mollie Schwein, said she was woken up by screaming in the early hours of the morning from outside her nearby apartment., 

'I heard him yell, 'I've been shot', and it became very real,' she told FirstAlert4. 

Schwein added that she heard several women shouting down the street as police arrived at the shooting, and another witness said they saw employees at a nearby bar run over to help Bentley on the street. 

Bentley, originally from Bingham, east of Nottingham, moved to Missouri last year when Vassilev, 23, joined MLS side St. Louis FC. 

Vassilev, originally from Savannah, Georgia, signed with Villa from in 2020 but only made four appearances with the team after being released on loan to play for Burton Albion and then Cheltenham Town.

He finally made a return to the States in 2021 playing two seasons with Inter Miami before signing with St. Louis City last year.    

Bentley, meanwhile, graduated last summer from the University of York with a degree in mathematics and physics. 

'Like most 22-year-olds, I enjoyed dance, going to the gym, and yoga, and devoted two-to-three hours a day to physical fitness. Now I can't move my legs or my right arm,' Bentley said in a statement through her lawyer.