Six-year-old recalls the day she nearly died

By REBECCA WALSH

The left side of 6-year-old Kayla Mason's head is wrapped in bandages to cover the "hole in her head".

Her right collar bone is broken and the cartilage on her left ear is exposed. Bandages wind their way down her body to cover the serious grazing that runs across her back and up her left arm.

Propped up in a bed at KidzFirst children's hospital, teddy bears close by, she vividly remembers the day she nearly lost her life.

"I was playing with my cousin and I wanted to go back to my Nana's. Then this car went out of control and a man said, "Watch out". I ran away but it just got me. My cousin got pushed away," she says.

"It was scary, I couldn't even breathe. People lifted the car off me and my poppa dragged me out and I went to hospital."

Kayla and her cousin Charlotte Jobsis, 8, were hit by a car carrying five teenagers when it left the road and mounted the grass outside Rosario Reserve at Red Beach on Saturday. Witnesses said Kayla was dragged about 10m by the car.

Yesterday before surgery the Whangarei girl said she wanted the people in the car "to go to jail".

"They need to get a newspaper and they need to read it. I feel upset with them. They are very bad. My Nana said, 'I will kick their butt'."

Kayla, whose long hair has been cut short, said she could walk "but I'm a bit wobbly" and "in my head there's a hole".

Her grandfather Jim Miller believes Kayla would be dead if she had been dragged along the road rather than grass.

Mr Miller had been watching from home as Kayla and her cousin played at the park. He saw the pair leave and disappear briefly as they walked down the track leading to the footpath.

"I didn't see it. I heard the noise like a thud and a bit of a bang ... then I saw people running down the street from all directions."

After seeing Charlotte he looked for Kayla. It was then that he heard people yelling to lift the car.

"I could see her feet hanging out. I didn't know who it was at that point. When I pulled her out I thought, 'Oh my God, it's my granddaughter'. I freaked out a bit.

"She looked terrible and I didn't know if she was going to be alive - and then she started talking to me."

Police inquiries are continuing but witnesses told the Herald the car's occupants were from Orewa College, the driver a 14-year-old boy. The college referred all inquiries to police.

Yesterday afternoon Kayla's mother, Natalie Miller, said Kayla's surgery had gone well and it was unlikely she would need skin grafts.

Charlotte was discharged from hospital on Sunday.