The female driver had just left a carol service at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Photo / Supplied
A four-year-old boy is in a stable condition after being knocked down by a churchgoer's car on Christmas Eve.
The female driver had just left a carol service at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Havelock North's Te Mata Rd when the boy ran out in front of her at 8.45pm.
"He just ripped his hand from mine and took off," the boy's father told Hawke's Bay Today.
It's understood the boy ran out onto the road between parked cars.
He remained conscious as an ambulance was called.
An ambulance on its way to another job stopped and attended the scene near the intersection of Guthrie Rd, 100m from the church.
This morning the boy was listed in a stable condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital.
The driver of the car that struck the boy was visibly distressed. She said it was ``providential'' that an ambulance happened to be passing at the time.
Despite the boy's father consoling the driver and telling her it was "simply an accident'', the woman had to be driven home.
Police conducted a scene examination and interviewed witnesses. They said they were unlikely to press charges.
Another ambulance was dispatched to the original medical call in Havelock North.
The incident was one of many emergency service callouts over the Christmas weekend, which included three rescue missions for the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter.
Yesterday it flew to Takapau, after a 67-year-old man fell two metres off a ladder and suffered chest injuries. He was flown by rescue helicopter to Hawke's Bay Hospital where he is in a stable condition.
The service also responded to a 61-year-old man on Christmas Eve who received multiple injuries after falling into a pit on a farm at Pongaroa.
It appeared the man had spent about six hours down the pit before being found and rescued at 10.40pm. He was flown to Palmerston North Hospital for further treatment.
A 45-year-old man who fell off a horse at Ocean Beach also on Christmas Eve received spinal injuries and was flown by helicopter to Hawke's Bay Hospital for further treatment. He remains in a stable condition.
St John Hawke's Bay co-ordinator Steve Smith has urged Hawke's Bay people to be cautious.
"Hawke's Bay always seems to get hammered with this kind of thing at Christmas,'' he said.
"St John would really like to see everyone have a safe time and enjoy their Christmas holidays.'
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