Kota Kinabalu: It is the phone call every parent dreads and when one mother of two answered it on Thursday evening, it hit her like a ton of bricks. The older of her two daughters was on the phone, frantically telling her that a motorcyclist had run over her sister and that a Good Samaritan was rushing her to hospital. "I was on my way to fetch my daughters when I received the call from my 14-year-old telling me about the hit-and-run," said the woman who did not wish to be named.
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"I was shocked and frightened at the same time because I was in the dark over what actually happened, I did not know the extent of her injury. "I rushed to the hospital and was relieved to know that she was alive and had not sustained any fractures," she said, adding the 13-year-old is now recuperating at home after being discharged at about 3am on Friday.
"She sustained swelling on her head and bruises on her hands and leg but is doing well," she said, adding a medical review found no fractures or internal bleeding. Nevertheless, the family plans to take her for a CT (computerised axial tomography) scan. The siblings of SM St Francis Convent were heading to the roadside to wait for their mother when the mishap took place near the traffic lights along Jalan Kolam/Kebajikan in Luyang.
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The accident was caught on video by a motorist and the footage which lasted about 14 seconds started making its rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook later the same day. "At first I was angry at the motorcyclist who ran over my daughter, but I forgave him since he surrendered himself at the police station, what is important is getting my daughter back to recovery," she said.
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The girls were rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II by one Ivy, a 29-year-old motorist, who was passing by at the time."I was heading to Asia City from my workplace in Damai Plaza, it was drizzling as I approached the traffic lights when I saw two students, one of whom had already crossed the road, while the other waited for the lights to turn red. "I slowed down behind a four-wheel-drive as the traffic lights turned red and the next thing I knew, the girl was lying on the road after being hit by a motorcycle which sped off," said Ivy."It happened so fast, I was shocked, by the time I alighted from my vehicle the other drivers in front of me were already rushing to the where the girl was. "The other girl rushed to her younger sibling and they cried, hugging each other as they sat on the road," she said, adding, "the other drivers suggested that we take them to the hospital and I offered to send them since I was the only female driver at the scene at that time." "The four-wheel-drive driver, who caught the accident on tape, helped carry the injured girl into my car and I rushed the girl and her sibling to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II," she said. "The older sibling used my phone to call their family and I waited until their mother showed up before leaving the hospital at about 7pm." Police have since arrested a 23-year-old man for questioning over the hit-and-run.City Police Chief ACP M. Chandra said the motorcyclist from Penang who has been in Sabah the past five years was arrested when he turned up at about 8am on Friday. Initial findings showed that the incident took place at about 5.55pm as the restaurant worker was rushing from Foh Sang to his workplace in Karamunsing.
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"The man claimed to be an asthma patient and that he was rushing to get his inhaler at his workplace in Karamunsing," he said. Chandra said the man was found to be clear of drugs and alcohol. "Investigations are continuing," he said.
