AN ANDOVER mother is appealing to the public to help trace an e-scooter driver who crashed into her young daughter on her way home from school, leaving her with two broken bones.

Kayleigh McColl, 28, was walking home from Knights Enham Junior School with her eight-year-old daughter Elliemai Smith on Thursday afternoon (July 7) when the incident happened.

The pair regularly walk with Kayleigh’s friend and her daughter, as they’re neighbours, and the two young girls had run in front of their mums towards the path between Shepherd’s Spring Pre-School and St Paul’s Church Centre on Smannell Road.

Kayleigh said: “The two girls were running towards that alley, but as she came around the corner this lad came flying up the path and took her off her feet.

“She did a 360 - I nearly had a heart attack, and I ran over to her.”

Kayleigh described the driver of the e-scooter as being in his early twenties, with curly hair that was ginger-ish in colour. She said the vehicle was large and black, and that he was driving at “well over 20mph”.

Kayleigh says that the driver was in shock and apologised, before promising he would come back but instead driving off towards the bridge at King Arthur’s Way, and not returning.

Elliemai had a large bump on her head and her legs were “floppy”. She was in extreme pain and appeared to drift in and out of consciousness.

They called an ambulance which took them to Basingstoke hospital where they discovered that she had fractured both the bones in her lower right leg. A temporary cast was put on, to allow for expected swelling before a full cast is made.

Kayleigh said: “It was awful. Elliemai was freaking out, and I was freaking out but trying to keep her calm.

“That’s my baby girl and she could have died. The force at which she hit the ground, if that had been her head it could so easily have been much worse. And it was so easily preventable.”

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Describing what she remembers of the incident, Elliemai told the Advertiser: “He was so fast, I couldn’t see him coming. I was very scared. It felt really really painful.”

Kayleigh has been sharing the incident on social media in the hope that someone will recognise the driver and get in touch with police.

The mother-of-two said said: “I am so angry. I shouldn’t have let him leave but at the time my focus was on my daughter. I think him not staying, and driving off, that makes it one hundred times worse.

“Imagine if that had happened to a child who was walking home on their own?”

Kayleigh has managed to get use of a wheelchair for Elliemai, and hopes to secure a right-leg elevation one soon.

She continued: “It’s right before the school holidays, and this is going to affect our whole life for the next six to eight weeks. Her friend’s will come down to see her, but it completely ruins her summer holiday.

“She has been so brave, it just breaks my heart. She should be able to run home from school without having to worry.

“No little girl should go through that.”

It is currently only legal to ride e-scooters on private land with  permission, apart from in certain trial areas where they are being allowed on public roads and cycle lanes. It is illegal to ride them on pavements, footpaths, and in pedestrianised zones.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said: “We are investigating a collision which occurred in Andover, involving an E-scooter and a pedestrian.

“This took place between 3.20pm and 4pm on 7 July this year, on a footpath between Rimini Road and Smannell Road.

“The pedestrian, an eight-year-old girl, suffered a concussion and a broken leg as a result.

“The E-scooter rider initially stopped, but left the scene without providing any details and rode off towards King Arthurs Way via the bridge over the A343.

“Officers are making enquiries.”

The spokesperson added that the rider is described as:

  • White male
  • Slim
  • 5ft 9ins – 5ft 10ins tall
  • Late teens to early 20s
  • Gingery/brown hair which is curly on top and shaved on the sides
  • Wiry facial hair
  • Wearing black jeans and grey trainers
  • Riding a black E-scooter with a chunky board and chunky tyres

Anyone who has information about this incident, or knows the identity of the rider, is asked to contact police on 101, quoting 44220271693.

You can also submit information at: hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report.

Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their anonymous online form at: crimestoppers-uk.org.

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