ianstone
05-19-2010, 11:18 AM
Boy, 3, left for dead after being dragged along under car by hit-and-run driver
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 9:33 AM on 19th May 2010
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html)
A three-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after suffering devastating injuries in a hit-and-run accident.
Lewis Ruddock was dragged under a speeding car and left for dead in front of his hysterical mother Jayne Day, who pleaded with the driver to stop.
The toddler suffered multiple broken bones, a fractured leg, a smashed pelvis, a gashed head and internal injuries.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279586-09A2B409000005DC-761_634x426.jpg Three-year-old Lewis Ruddock was left fighting for his life after suffering horrific injuries in a hit-and-run accident outside his grandmother's house
Ms Day, 23, and the child's father Dave Ruddock, 25, have kept a 24-hour vigil by his bedside in intensive care since the shocking incident on Saturday.
He has been moved to the children's ward but remains seriously ill and is expected to be in hospital for at least another month.
The driver drove off despite Ms Day frantically banging on the car window to ask him to stop.
A 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Ms Day said: 'After the accident he was all floppy and he wasn't saying anything. I thought he was dead.
'I picked him up and sat on the kerb holding him. I just remember shouting at everyone to get away and telling him that I loved him. I thought I had lost him.'
'Lewis just keeps saying "I want to go home" over and over again. Practically his whole body is covered in bandages, he just says "I'm scared mummy" and asks for his toys.
Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary have told his parents Lewis is lucky to be alive and it was only his young flexible body that saved him.
Lewis and his mother had just been to visit his grandmother Carole Grigg, 54, in Leeds, West Yorks., when the accident happened outside Mrs Grigg's house.
Bloodstains from the smash still cover the pavement outside Mrs Grigg's home.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279586-09A2B229000005DC-632_634x420.jpg The toddler suffered multiple broken bones, a fractured leg, a smashed pelvis, a gashed head and internal injuries including a punctured lung
As they waited to cross the road, Lewis ran a few steps ahead of his mother.
Ms Day said: 'The car came up so fast. It must have been at least 40 miles an hour. I just shouted "Lewis".
'He was dragged under the car, it took him down the street. I was just shouting "stop, he's under the car" and banging on the window.'
Witnesses say the vehicle may have been travelling at 60mph.
Mrs Grigg is now vowing to start a safety campaign in the previously quiet family road which she says has become a 'rat run' in recent times - saying that her sister's son has been hit twice by racing cars and had his leg broken.
Mrs Grigg said: 'I have lived on this road for 22 years and we have petitioned so many times for something to be done about the speed limit and to restrict massive lorries from speeding past.
'There are so many families down this road who have young children, I can't count the amount of children who have been injured along here.
Lewis's grandmother added: 'Lewis has got such horrific injuries, and we weren't sure whether he was going to make it, but he's pulling through.
'I wasn't at my house when it happened, but his mum and my other daughter Charmaine saw it all with their own eyes.
'They were just outside the gate of my house, Lewis had come over with his mum to get some toys when he was hit and dragged by a car down the road.
'He was dragged for about two or three car lengths, his mum was banging on the window begging the driver to stop, saying that Lewis was trapped underneath.
'Lewis was left in the road, bleeding in his mum's arms. She held him until the ambulance came to collect him.'
Lewis's aunt, Charmaine, 37, said: 'It all happened so quickly, it was awful, he was being dragged along like a rag doll.
'His mum has been absolutely brilliant, I don't know how she's coped. She cradled him in her arms, his head was in such a state, we were really thought we had lost him.
'He was unconscious for about four or five minutes, but then came round and started screaming.'
The family have a long agonising wait until Lewis fully recovers, with his parents keeping a vigil by his bedside.
Mrs Grigg said: 'They have been so great for Lewis, they have been with him at every step of the way and don't want to leave his side. They are exhausted but want to see him get better.
'We are just pleased that he has been moved from the intensive care unit and onto the children's ward, but he still has a very long way to go.
'His bones will heal but he is suffering from a punctured lung which has set him back.'
A red Seat Leon was later found abandoned, and a 29-year-old man has been arrested and bailed on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html#ixzz0oOAFulul (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html#ixzz0oOAFulul)
Sickening and very lucky, if you can call that luck.
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 9:33 AM on 19th May 2010
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html)
A three-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after suffering devastating injuries in a hit-and-run accident.
Lewis Ruddock was dragged under a speeding car and left for dead in front of his hysterical mother Jayne Day, who pleaded with the driver to stop.
The toddler suffered multiple broken bones, a fractured leg, a smashed pelvis, a gashed head and internal injuries.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279586-09A2B409000005DC-761_634x426.jpg Three-year-old Lewis Ruddock was left fighting for his life after suffering horrific injuries in a hit-and-run accident outside his grandmother's house
Ms Day, 23, and the child's father Dave Ruddock, 25, have kept a 24-hour vigil by his bedside in intensive care since the shocking incident on Saturday.
He has been moved to the children's ward but remains seriously ill and is expected to be in hospital for at least another month.
The driver drove off despite Ms Day frantically banging on the car window to ask him to stop.
A 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Ms Day said: 'After the accident he was all floppy and he wasn't saying anything. I thought he was dead.
'I picked him up and sat on the kerb holding him. I just remember shouting at everyone to get away and telling him that I loved him. I thought I had lost him.'
'Lewis just keeps saying "I want to go home" over and over again. Practically his whole body is covered in bandages, he just says "I'm scared mummy" and asks for his toys.
Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary have told his parents Lewis is lucky to be alive and it was only his young flexible body that saved him.
Lewis and his mother had just been to visit his grandmother Carole Grigg, 54, in Leeds, West Yorks., when the accident happened outside Mrs Grigg's house.
Bloodstains from the smash still cover the pavement outside Mrs Grigg's home.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279586-09A2B229000005DC-632_634x420.jpg The toddler suffered multiple broken bones, a fractured leg, a smashed pelvis, a gashed head and internal injuries including a punctured lung
As they waited to cross the road, Lewis ran a few steps ahead of his mother.
Ms Day said: 'The car came up so fast. It must have been at least 40 miles an hour. I just shouted "Lewis".
'He was dragged under the car, it took him down the street. I was just shouting "stop, he's under the car" and banging on the window.'
Witnesses say the vehicle may have been travelling at 60mph.
Mrs Grigg is now vowing to start a safety campaign in the previously quiet family road which she says has become a 'rat run' in recent times - saying that her sister's son has been hit twice by racing cars and had his leg broken.
Mrs Grigg said: 'I have lived on this road for 22 years and we have petitioned so many times for something to be done about the speed limit and to restrict massive lorries from speeding past.
'There are so many families down this road who have young children, I can't count the amount of children who have been injured along here.
Lewis's grandmother added: 'Lewis has got such horrific injuries, and we weren't sure whether he was going to make it, but he's pulling through.
'I wasn't at my house when it happened, but his mum and my other daughter Charmaine saw it all with their own eyes.
'They were just outside the gate of my house, Lewis had come over with his mum to get some toys when he was hit and dragged by a car down the road.
'He was dragged for about two or three car lengths, his mum was banging on the window begging the driver to stop, saying that Lewis was trapped underneath.
'Lewis was left in the road, bleeding in his mum's arms. She held him until the ambulance came to collect him.'
Lewis's aunt, Charmaine, 37, said: 'It all happened so quickly, it was awful, he was being dragged along like a rag doll.
'His mum has been absolutely brilliant, I don't know how she's coped. She cradled him in her arms, his head was in such a state, we were really thought we had lost him.
'He was unconscious for about four or five minutes, but then came round and started screaming.'
The family have a long agonising wait until Lewis fully recovers, with his parents keeping a vigil by his bedside.
Mrs Grigg said: 'They have been so great for Lewis, they have been with him at every step of the way and don't want to leave his side. They are exhausted but want to see him get better.
'We are just pleased that he has been moved from the intensive care unit and onto the children's ward, but he still has a very long way to go.
'His bones will heal but he is suffering from a punctured lung which has set him back.'
A red Seat Leon was later found abandoned, and a 29-year-old man has been arrested and bailed on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html#ixzz0oOAFulul (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279586/Boy-3-left-dead-dragged-car-hit-run-driver.html#ixzz0oOAFulul)
Sickening and very lucky, if you can call that luck.