A heroic woman saved a baby's life after reportedly pushing a pram out of harm's way before she was struck by a car. The woman, who is in her 30s, is now fighting for her life in hospital.
She was steering a pram near a play park in Bournemouth, Dorset, when a Toyota RAV 4 came towards her and the baby. The impact sent her flying through the air before landing in the middle of the road, the Mirror reports.
Pedestrians rushed to her aid and police and medical services were quickly at the scene.
The lady was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with a life-threatening head injury.
Miraculously the baby was unharmed, but was taken to hospital as a precaution. Police have not disclosed if the woman pushing the pram is the baby's mother. 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. He has been arrested on suspicion of driving offences.
Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
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 spokesperson 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.
Miss 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.
Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
