A woman who reportedly pushed a pram out of harm’s way a split-second before she was struck by a car in an alleged hit and run is fighting for her life in hospital.
The victim, in her 30s, was steering a pushchair near a play park in Bournemouth, Dorset, when the Toyota RAV 4 came towards them.
The impact with the vehicle sent the woman flying through the air, landing in the middle of the road.
Pedestrians rushed to her aid and police and medical services were quickly at the scene.
She was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with a life-threatening head injury. A man has been arrested on driving charges following the incident.
A woman reportedly pushed a pram out of harm’s way a split-second before she was struck by a car in an alleged hit and run in Bournemouth
The victim, in her 30s, is fighting for her life in Southampton General Hospital with a life-threatening head injury
The baby was miraculously unharmed, but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Photos taken after the incident show a pram on the roadside at the scene.
Two air ambulance helicopters landed in Redhill Park, a small nature reserve on the outskirts of Bournemouth, and up to nine police cars were present.
It is alleged that the driver of the car, a 38-year-old man from the New Milton area in Hampshire, did not stop at the scene yesterday.
Following inquiries, he has been arrested on suspicion of driving offences.
A road closure was in place at the scene to allow emergency services to safely deal with the incident.
Police have not disclosed if the woman pushing the pram is the baby’s mother.
Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
The baby inside the pram was miraculously unharmed, but was taken to hospital as a precaution
The woman’s impact with the vehicle sent her flying through the air, landing in the middle of the road
Police have been pictured at the scene in Bournemouth gathering evidence
Police Sergeant Richard Stroud, of the road traffic unit, said: ‘We are investigating the circumstances of this collision and I am appealing to anyone who was travelling in the area at the time and either witnessed the collision or captured it on dashcam to please contact Dorset Police.
‘I would like to thank motorists for their patience while the road closure was in place so we could carry out our investigation.’
A South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: ‘We were called at 9am to an incident in Bournemouth.
‘We sent two air ambulances, three double-crewed land ambulances, an operations officer and a doctor and conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Poole Hospital and one patient by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital.’
Tracey Howe was on her way to a hospital appointment when she witnessed the incident.
A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of driving offences following the incident
Ms Howe, 50, said: ‘I saw a pedestrian get hit by a car as I was going round the one-way system.
‘She was crossing the road near the crossing by the park, the lights were changing to red so the car should have been slowing down.
‘It all happened really fast, it was horrible. I heard a noise and turned to see it. I think she made contact with the front of the car but didn’t hit the windscreen and the car just zoomed off.
‘I saw who I assume could have been the grandmother running towards the baby. It looked about 18 months old.
‘I wasn’t able to pull over and stop. There were lots of pedestrians rushing over to help and the woman was lying by the side of the road.’
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact, via email at scit@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 11:111.
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