An appeal for information is being made after a driver knocked a 12-year-old boy off his bike on the Manston Road and then drove off while the youngster lay on the ground.
Charles Dickens School student Jimmi Needham was cycling along the road, close to Quex and the Birchington Vale caravan park, on the way to his friend’s house at 6.05pm when a black car went past him at speed. The vehicle’s wing mirror hit Jimmi’s handlebars, throwing him from the bike and into the road.
The driver did not stop.
Liverpool FC fan Jimmi was found by Ramsgate couple Natasha Bizarra and Iain Dawson who called police and paramedics.
His dad Darren said: “Jimmi could have lost his life. He said he could hear the car from way back and it sounded fast. They didn’t know if they left him alive or not.
They must have known they’d hit him as you can hear a twig hitting a mirror let alone a bike’s handlebars.. I’m just so thankful to Natasha for helping Jimmi, it could have been so much worse.”
Darren says he has been told a black car was seen running a red light at Coffin Corner not long after and the vehicle headed to Shottendane Road.
Jimmi suffered injuries to his ankle and leg and was taken for checks to Margate’s QEQM Hospital. He is now recovering at home with mum Cathy.
Darren said: “He has a few minor cuts and a big deep cut the length of his shin. He has tissue damage to his ankle as well as torn ligaments. I would rather he had a broken bone than torn ligaments as they take months to heal.”
Kent Police is appealing for anyone with information about the incident to get in touch.
A police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was called to a collision involving a car and cyclist in Manston Road at around 6.20pm on Tuesday, June 25.
“Officers attended the scene where the cyclist had suffered injuries and was taken to hospital. The car had left the location before police arrived and enquiries remain ongoing to locate the driver.”
Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01843 222289 quoting reference 25-1408.
