This is the heartstopping moment a toddler is knocked over by a hit-and-run cyclist and dragged 12FT along the pavement outside her home.
In graphic CCTV footage, Lucie Wilding, three, can be seen stepping out of her front gate before being knocked over and dragged face-down along the street.
Her tiny body got caught in the pedals of the bike forcing the cyclist to fall off, before he cruelly fled the scene.
Mum Lauren Howarth, 26, who witnessed the horror, said: “One minute she was
behind me and the next she was further along the street, sprawled across the pavement.
“I thought she was dead. There was blood coming from everywhere. She was hysterical, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“I had to check she still had arms and legs because the speed she was taken was so quick and she’d just been flattened by this bike.”
Dad Matt, a first responder, ran to pick Lucie up, who was covered in blood, with cuts to her face, head, hands and knees.
She was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E where Lauren and dad Matt were relieved to learn she had no fractures – but she did have head injuries caused by the bike‘s tyre.
As seen in the video footage, Lucie had followed mum Lauren out on to the pavement on Monday afternoon before the cyclist appeared from nowhere.
Lauren said: “I was heading towards the car and Lucie was following me.
“As soon as Lucie stepped out he got her. He must have been going some speed because I didn’t see him.
“Matt jumped over the wall and got to her and swept her up.
“We didn’t know what kind of injuries she had suffered, we just knew we had to get her straight to the hospital so we put her straight in the car.”
Most astonishingly however, the cyclist made no efforts to check how Lucie was, and Lauren claims he began swearing at the family before getting back on his bike and cycling off.
“He was on the floor with his head on the pavement,” said Lauren. “I was expecting him to say ‘I’m so sorry, is everyone okay’ or something like that but there was nothing.
“As soon as he got up he started swearing at us, as if it was Lucie’s fault that he had hit her.
“The next thing we knew he’d gone and we’ve not heard from him since.
“I know it would have been a shock for him but it would have been nice for him to put a note through the door to check how she is
“For all he knew, she could be dead.”
Lucie is now recovering at home in Blackpool, Lancs., but while her physical injuries will heal quickly, it is the lasting mental scarring her parents fear most.
Lauren, a carer currently on maternity leave, said: “For a three-year-old to go through something like that is a big thing.
“She’s now very nervous of bikes, and we’ve had to tell her daddy has got rid of the bike to make her feel better.
“But she won’t walk across the pavement to the car at the moment, we have to carry her, because she’s scared of being hit.
“She’s been really brave though, we’re really proud of her.”
Lauren, who is also mum to Katie, six, and eight-week-old Ellie are now hoping to raise awareness of cyclists who may ride on pavements, despite it being against the law.
She added: “I would never have walked out of our house before and looked left and right as if I’m crossing a road.
“It’s a pavement so you’re just aware if there’s people walking about but you never expect something like this to happen right outside your home.
“The speed he was going on that bike in a residential area with young children around is dangerous and this happened to Lucie out of nowhere.
“People need to be aware that cyclists can be dangerous drivers too.”
A man in his 20s has since contacted police in connection with the incident and is due to be spoken to by officers tomorrow.
PC Joanna Mills of Lancashire Police said: “There are a number of offences that will be discussed with this man — riding on pavements and dangerous cycling.
“For a three-year-old this isn’t a pleasant experience when you’re just walking from your home to your car.
“Lucie is lucky she’s escaped with only scrapes and bruises. It could have been a lot worse.”
