Toddler, 'light of our lives'
A father has described his family's grief after his two-year-old son was hit and killed by a car, being driven by his mother.
Little Matthew Bond and his 63-year-old grandfather had been sitting together on the porch of the family's holiday home in Sorrento, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, when his mother's four-wheel drive ploughed into them on Monday night.
The two-year-old tragically died at the scene, while his grandfather suffered serious injuries.
The boy's father, Andrew, described his son as a little angel who lit up his parents' lives.
"As you're all aware we have lost our beautiful son," he told reporters.
"Words cannot describe the loss and pain my wife and I are experiencing right now.
"Matthew was the light of our lives and always will be.
"What has happened here is a tragic accident and we would not wish this upon anyone.
"Matthew made an impact on the lives of many people - he was our gorgeous angel."
Tragedy
The tragedy unfolded at around 6pm last night when Matthew's mother arrived to pick him up from her parents' holiday home.
In attempting to park on the lawn she hit the accelerator instead of the brake and mounted the porch, running over the toddler and pinning his grandfather between the car and the house.
The 32-year-old mother's screams of horror alerted neighbours who rushed to help.
"The mother was totally distraught," neighbour Martin Drerup told reporters at the scene on Tuesday.
"I heard this crash and I thought somebody had probably bumped into somebody else - then there was a scream.
"The father was pinned to the house by the car and the baby was lying under it."
Mr Drerup said witnesses were relieved when the boy began to cry and he was shocked to discover on Tuesday the toddler had died.
"The baby started crying and so we thought he was alright," he said.
"They took the baby away and I think we were all relieved because it looked like he was going to make it."
A witness who spoke to the mother at the scene said it appeared the woman, who was wearing work clothes, had been reversing to leave the house, but applied the accelerator while the car was still in drive.
Next-door neighbour Gary Seedsman said he heard the crash and went to investigate but didn't realise anything was wrong until ambulances showed up.
"It was pretty traumatic," Mr Seedsman said.
"The grandfather was still up against the house, sort of with the car in front of him, so he was stuck behind the car.
"The child was in the back of the ambulance.
"I saw the mother. She was very distraught. It's just terrible."
Paramedic Russell Calley said ambulance crews attempted to save the boy but he died shortly after the crash.
"The boy suffered a large cut to the head and internal injuries," Mr Calley said.
"He was treated by paramedics for more than an hour but tragically he died at the scene."
Mr Calley said the man suffered chest injuries and a seriously fractured arm.
"He was actually crushed between the car and the wall of the house until he could be freed," he said.
The man was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman said he remained in a serious but stable condition on Tuesday.
