KEY POINTS:
The mother of a nine-year-old boy left for dead after a hit-and-run is furious that the man accused of mowing her son down is free on bail.
Tawhiri Moka is in a serious but stable condition in Starship Hospital after being dragged about 15m underneath a Mitsubishi Pajero as it smashed through a fence outside his Manurewa home on Wednesday afternoon.
Tawhiri, who has black rubber-tyre marks across his chest and arms, suffered a split liver, heavily bruised lung, broken leg, and ligament damage to his neck and back - and will have to wear a "halo" brace for two months.
His mother Kimani White told the Herald on Sunday yesterday she had feared Tawhiri would be permanently paralysed until scans revealed a better prognosis, but she is angry the driver, who allegedly fled the scene, is on bail.
Faaua Faataape, 41, was arrested and appeared in Manukau District Court on Friday on charges of driving while disqualified, reckless driving causing injury and failing to stop and render assistance.
"I'm really worried that he's out in the community and just lives around the corner. I'm really angry about it," White said.
Her partner Jerry Moka was teaching Tawhiri's 5-year-old brother Manaakitia to ride his new bike in the driveway when the truck came towards them at speed.
"I saw it flying and wiping out those fence posts like nothing," Moka told the New Zealand Herald.
He grabbed his youngest son and the pair leaped away as the truck flew past them and stopped at his letterbox before being driven off.
Moka found Tawhiri unconscious and bleeding among smashed fencing. A pregnant White ran outside.
"We were freaked out, the fence was like matchsticks. I was screaming and crying and shouting. Just devastated at seeing my son like that."
Now recovering in intensive care, Tawhiri has the "halo" brace around his head to prevent further vertebrae damage to his neck. Heavily medicated, he had lapsed in and out of consciousness, but had asked his mother to look for his Chuck Taylor shoes - found 15m from the crash site.
White is worried with how Tawhiri will cope with being bedridden for months, as he was extremely active, and a "try-scoring machine" for the Otara Scorpions under-10 league team. He had already asked for his kicking tee and ball to be brought into intensive care.
White believes the driver hit her son after an incident in his friend had been cheeky to the driver's son. Detectives have been unable to substantiate those claims and no further charges are expected.
