By Craig Smith

A FIFE mum has spoken of her relief after her two-year-old son and her sister escaped serious injury after being involved in a hit-and run incident earlier this week.

However Kerri McCullie (23) has called on the car driver responsible to hand himself in after he failed to return to the scene of the accident—despite telling the shocked family that he would do so.

Kerri had been travelling to visit her mother in Kinglassie’s Main Street with her son Marc Ewens and her 16-year-old sister Kirsty Horsburgh at around 5.45pm on Wednesday when little Marc stepped into the path of a blue Peugeot car travelling towards Cardenden.

Quick-thinking Kirsty managed to pull her nephew back towards the footpath but Marc was struck a glancing blow by the vehicle, while Kirsty’s shoe was ripped off and her toe broken as she tried to shield Marc from harm.

However, even though the driver stopped for a few moments before assuring the group he would come back, he drove off back towards Glenrothes and failed to return to the scene.

Speaking to The Courier yesterday, Kerri, who lives in Glenrothes, said she was thankful that the incident did not have tragic consequences but pleaded with the driver to get in touch with the police as soon as possible.

“I was coming out of my mum’s and Marc was playing with his toy cars,” she said.

“He dropped one of them and I took his hand at the passenger side of the car but then he suddenly let go and ran between the gap in between two parked cars.

“My sister automatically grabbed him by the back of the neck and tried to pull him back on to the pavement, but the car hit against him and ran over my sister’s foot.

“The driver stopped to make sure the wee boy was ok and he said he was going to come back in 10 minutes but he never did.

“The man was very, very upset after he had done it, he was almost in tears and it really wasn’t the man’s fault because he wouldn’t have been able to see Marc as he was between two parked cars.

“I was grateful to him at the time but I don’t understand why he didn’t come back.”

Police yesterday issued an appeal to help trace the driver or anyone who may have witnessed the incident, describing the driver as in his mid 30s with a scar on his right eye and with short black hair.

He was also wearing a white T-shirt and navy blue trousers, while the Peugeot he was driving is understood to be a 407 model.

Marc suffered bruising to the right side of his face, his side and his thigh but did not require hospital treatment, although Kirsty was not so lucky as the car’s wheels locked up and ran over her foot.

She was taken to hospital where doctors discovered she had broken two bones in her right toe and is now hobbling about on crutches.

Kerri admitted that she will be keeping a close watch on Marc from now on after the incident and expressed her sincere gratitude to her sister for her actions.

“It was just an automatic instinct that she had and she means everything to me— I can’t explain how grateful I am,” she added.

“Marc is very lucky and it could have been much worse—he certainly won’t get the opportunity to wander like that again.”

Anyone who thinks they can help officers with their inquiries should contact police on 0845 600 5702 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where they may be eligible for a reward.