A ten-year-old schoolboy was left with his nose hanging off and horrific facial injuries after he was hit by an e-bike.
Carter Ralph was playing outside his home in Loughborough, Leicestershire, when an electric bike going down the pavement “at speed” rammed into him.
Whilst Ralph fell to the floor, the rider picked his bike up and “simply” rode away following the collision, leaving the injured 10-year-old on the floor on October 30, witnesses said.
The boy’s mother heard her son’s scream and darted outside, finding him seemingly unconscious on the street covered in blood, with neighbours who saw the crash rushing to help him.
Schoolboy, 10, left with horrific facial injuries after being hit by e-bike (not pictured)
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“At first, I thought he didn’t have an eyeball, his eyelid was completely covering his one eye. His nose was hanging off,” his mum Nadine Ralph, 39, told The Telegraph.
The boy was quickly rushed to hospital, undergoing two operations needed to repair injuries to his nose, mouth and one of his eyelids.
“His chest also had a large yellow and blue bruise where I think the bike handlebars had hit him, flipping the cyclist off,” she said.
Doctors are optimistic about his recovery, though his mother claims that he is now “petrified” about being hit by a cyclist.
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Police forces have been seizing illegally modified e-scooters and e-bikes PAPolice have obtained CCTV footage from a neighbour which shows the boy being hit by a rider who was on the pavement.
Nadine said: “The fact the cyclist did not stop to check on my child or pick him up off the ground and seek help shows that man has no heart. It is unbelievable behaviour.”
She said that new rules need to be introduced to target “dangerous cyclists who ignore road rules”, particularly on e-bikes.
The popularity of the vehicles has led to increasing concerns over models that have been illegally modified to make them faster than the speed limit of 15mph.
Police have obtained CCTV footage from a neighbour which shows the boy being hit by a rider who was on the pavement
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Now, a rising number can reach speeds of 70mph, which the police are trying to crack down on.
In 2022, there were 64 deaths in London involving e-bikes.
Leicestershire Police said: “The person riding the bike left the scene following the incident. Enquiries are continuing to establish the full circumstances of the incident including the type of bike which was being ridden.
“Our investigation remains ongoing including speaking with the boy and his family, house-to-house enquiries and analysing CCTV.”