Exclusive: Four-year-old girl struck by runaway car saved by quick thinking neighbours

Little Ellie Drwal suffered horrific injuries as the driverless vehicle smashed into her, trapping her underneath.
Seconds earlier the driverless vehicle had rolled down a hill, mounted the pavement and smashed through a fence before ploughing into Ellie.
The horrific incident happened at 12.30pm on Friday in Redfield Court, Newbury, as she walked home from nursery school with her mother.
Ellie was airlifted to hospital where doctors discovered injuries including a broken collarbone, crushed verterba and a misaligned spine.
Her mother, Gemma Hawkins, and father Michal Drwal, both aged 27, have thanked quick thinking neighbours who freed Ellie from beneath the car before the emergency services arrived.
Miss Hawkins said: “If it wasn’t for their quick thinking it could have been a different story. It must have been awful for them just as much as it was for us.
“The first thing I knew [the car] hit my handbag but it was too late, it had hit her - we couldn’t have stopped it if we tried. I didn’t know what to do, I felt useless, I just dropped everything and started screaming.
“[Ellie] was just amazing, the first thing she said to me was ‘Mummy, don’t get angry, don’t cry.’ She has really been resilient and strong and I couldn’t be any more proud of her. Een the doctors were amazed.”
One of Ellie’s rescuers was neighbour and family friend Victoria-Louise Harris, who helped another neighbour, a mechanic the family know only as Brian, lift the car with a jack.
Miss Harris said: “I was there within seconds. The way she was laid beneath the car was horrific, I couldn’t even see her head, she was literally folded up on herself.
“She is so brave, it’s unbelievable.”
Mr Drwal described his panic when Ellie’s grandmother broke the news to him as he neared home from work. He said: “Lots of things started going through my head. I parked the car and started running.
“The first thing I saw was my little girl with bruises, then the tears started coming, I was so scared. She is a little star, I’m so pleased with her.”
Redfield Court was cordoned off for more than three hours while police examined the scene and recovered the Ford Focus involved.
Ellie was taken to Southampton General Hospital by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance where she remained for four days and returned home on Tuesday evening.
She will spend up to 12 weeks in a specialist back brace to help realign her spin, which curved on the impact of the crash, followed by a series of scans and check-ups to monitor her progress.
Despite the trauma of the past few days, Ellie was in good spirits on Wednesday, and describing how she had been “squashed” by the car but was feeling better.
Both parents stressed their heart-felt thanks to all those who helped, many of whom they didn’t know.
Thames Valley Police are investigating.