Christian Ashby speaks to media outside court after Rebekah Stewart's sentencing. Credit:Kate Healy, Ballarat Courier Mr Ashby said the sentence gave him an opportunity to move on. "Whether she got one year, 10 years or 20 years, it's not going to help me get on with life, but it was great to see there is a deterrent for people who do something like this to someone else," he said outside the Ballarat Law Courts. "It's been a tough time ... very, very hard on everyone, on the defendant's family as well. "Physically and mentally I'm wrecked. It's now just a matter of getting on with life the best we can."

Mr Ashby took the opportunity to thank his three saviours, without whose assistance on the morning of the horrific hit-and-run, he may not have survived. "Without them I wouldn't be here today," he said. After 10 major operations for his injuries, Mr Ashby was in court on Monday to see Stewart sentenced. "During plea, the word 'catastrophe' was used. It is a most apt word to describe the consequences of this accident in regard to all parties involved," Judge Michael McInerney said on Monday. Stewart had been consuming the drug ice the night before she hit Mr Ashby.

"There appears to be no other explanation [for the crash] but the fact of her consumption of ice during that night," Judge McInerney said. "Failing to stop in these circumstances is a despicable and cowardly act. "It gives the court no joy to send a young woman of the age of 24 years to jail, however ... there is no alternative," he said. An emotional Mr Ashby spoke to County Court judge Michael McInerney for 45 minutes during the former Ballarat woman's plea hearing last week, detailing to the court how the "horrendous" incident had affected his life. Describing the incident as a "callous act", he said he still couldn't comprehend how another human could do what was done to him.

"This nightmare changed my life dramatically," he told the court. "Everyday I am reminded this day occurred." The near-fatal hit-and-run that left the 36-year-old father of two fighting for his life has left him in constant pain. It took Mr Ashby more than 30 minutes to list each injury he suffered, some of which included punctures to both lungs, nine fractured ribs, crushed bones in his hand, a damaged kidney and a brain injury. The podiatrist and former triathlete showed his deformed hand to the court and said he would now have to learn to live with a limp.

"I will never be able to run or jog again. I used to run 90-100 kilometres a week … I've had my [ability to run] taken away from me," Mr Ashby said. Christian Ashby was hit by a car while riding his bike early on the morning of Good Friday. But he told the court the most difficult thing he has had to come to terms with was the limitation placed on him with his children. "I cannot throw them in the pool like any other father," he said. "Every parent wants to give their children everything. I feel like I've failed my kids due to no fault of my own."

The scene in Wendouree Parade where cyclist Christian Ashby was struck by a car on Good Friday in 2016. Credit:Luka Kauzlaric/Ballarat Courier The court heard Stewart was travelling on the wrong side of the road when she hit Mr Ashby as he cycled around Lake Wendouree in the early hours of March 25. Mr Ashby was propelled over his handlebars, and hit the bonnet, windscreen and roof of Stewart's Mitsubishi Lancer before he was sent tumbling in the air and landed on the road. Stewart's offending breached a suspended jail sentence she was serving after pleading guilty in 2015 to driving while suspended. She was given a non-parole period of four years.

AAP, with Ballarat Courier