THE FATHER of a Dublin teen who was left with horrific injuries following a hit and run incident earlier this week has issued a plea for the driver to hand themselves in to gardai.
14 year old Sean O’Reilly was hit by a vehicle while crossing the Cheeverstown Road in Tallaght, Co. Dublin on his bike.
Sean was taken to hospital with a fractured skull, leg and elbow, as well as severe bruising and, is still undergoing scans and tests at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.
Witnesses close to the scene said there was a green light for Sean to cross at a crossing point when a dark car came speeding through the bus lane and ploughed into him.
The driver fled the scene immediately after the incident and the Gardai are seeking any information.
The incident happened at around 8.50pm on Sunday.
The car that was involved was described as a black saloon, possibly a Volkswagen Passat or a Saab.
Sean’s dad has said that Sean’s leg is so badly damaged that he has a ‘halo’ device on it with metal screws going to the bone.
“Go to the gardai, or if you suspect someone who may have been responsible, report them,” he said.
“Just look at Sean. He did nothing wrong. It will take him a long time to recover from this.
“If this was your son, your brother, your nephew, your friend, what would you want? You would want the driver found.”
The emergency crews who attended to Sean at the scene told his father that his son was ‘lucky to be alive’.
Furthermore, Mr O’Reilly described receiving a phone call from a stranger to tell him that Sean had been knocked down.
“I don’t know who it was. A friend’s brother was also near the scene and rang me. I was there within minutes of it happening,” he said.
“I just lay down on the road with him and tried to comfort him as best I could.
“To be honest, when I saw the wreckage of his bike I was convinced he was dead.
“I had only just gone over his bike a few days ago and made sure he had lights.
“He told me he used the green man to get from one side of the road to the island in the middle, and then waited again for the green man to get to the other side.
“The cars had stopped for him and he was crossing when a dark car came down the bus lane and hit him.
“It was going so fast that nobody could really tell what it was or get a registration number.
“Sean is a great guy. He’s in Junior Cert year in Mount Seskin and was about to do his mocks, but we don’t know what will happen now.
“He’s a mannerly lad, and likes cycling and boxing, so he’s fit, and hopefully that will help him.”
