KEY POINTS:
Rising cycling star Harriet Smithies, who was badly injured during a race at the weekend, has managed to raise a smile for her anxious parents.
Her parents Simon and Rowena Smithies flew from Christchurch to her bedside after the 16-year-old Christchurch schoolgirl collided with a truck at Waitara on Monday.
Smithies, who suffered serious head and chest injuries and a collapsed lung, was rushed to Taranaki Base Hospital where her condition was this morning reported to be serious but stable.
Mr Smithies said his daughter was doing well.
"It was a huge shock for us to hear that she was unresponsive after the accident, but by the time we arrived ... she was responding to conversation," he told the Taranaki Daily News.
Mrs Smithies said Harriet had broken all her ribs and a bit of her lung has been removed but she was comfortable.
She hoped Harriet, the 2007 national under-17 road cycling champion, could return to Christchurch this week.
It was still "early days", but she suspected Harriet's determination would see her riding again.
- NZPA
