Hit-and-run boy 'very lucky'

Swallow Drive, where the 8-year-old boy was hit on his way to school. Photo / Richard Robinson

An 8-year-old boy is "very, very lucky" to have escaped with minor injuries after being hit by a van in South Auckland, his mother says.

Ari Greer, a Year 4 student at St Anne's Catholic School in Manurewa, was crossing Swallow Drive with his sister, Millie, 7, when a van hit him and did not stop.

Millie, who was not hurt, ran home to tell mother Ros Ari was hurt and his head was bleeding.

Until a couple of weeks ago, Mrs Greer said, she had been walking her children to school.

"I ran to the scene as fast as a mother could," she said. "They had just started walking to school on their own. Ari was bleeding on the ground and I just didn't know what to think."

Ari was taken to Middlemore Hospital where a scan revealed he had no internal injuries, and he was discharged last night, Mrs Greer said.

"Ari's all right, thank God. He is a very, very lucky boy."

Police said the man driving the van fled the scene, but later went to the police and had been interviewed.

A decision on charges would be made once the serious crash unit had investigated the incident.

St Anne's principal Philip Cortesi said: "The roads around here are just a nightmare just before and after school, and it can be a real hazard for kids."