Toddler hit by car 'saved by helmet'
An Edithvale mother says it is a miracle her son is alive after the two-year-old was run over by a neighbour.
Little Jimi Hay suffered two broken legs and is plastered up to his chest, but he still manages to smile.
A week ago, Jimi rode his scooter into the path of a car pulling out of a neighbour's driveway.
His mother, Stephanie, who witnessed the horror ordeal, feared the worst.
"It was the first thing that popped into my head - that he was dead," she told Seven News reporter Karen O'Sullivan .
Jimi was pinned underneath the vehicle and dragged up to eight metres along the road before the elderly driver realised she had hit the little boy.
"He rolled like tumbleweed under the car," Stephanie said.
Jimi had serious injuries to his legs and deep cuts to his face, but he was alive.
"It was like 'thank the lord, he's crying'," Stephanie said.
Jimi spent six days recovering at the Royal Children's Hospital.
Trauma experts said the accident could have been a lot worse had it not been for the car travelling at a low speed and the helmet that doctors say saved his life.
Dr Warwick Teague told Seven News: "That decision to insist upon a helmet has been the difference between Jimi having or not having a life threatening injury. That's made the difference between concern and catastrophe."
Jimi's Spiderman helmet was shattered in the accident.
"I keep saying he was lucky, but it was a miracle as well," Stephanie said.
Dr Teague has treated three children who have been run over in driveways in as many weeks.
"We have an extra responsibility to be extraordinarily on the lookout for children in driveways," he said.
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