Parents hail son's 'miraculous' recovery

Fourteen-year-old cyclist Toby Darrington was involved in a collision in Purley on July 25

THE parents of a 14-year-old boy who was hit by a car in Purley have spoken of their son's ‘miraculous' recovery.

Toby Darrington was on his pedal cycle when he collided with a Honda CRV in Roebuck Rise, Purley, on July 25.

The 14-year-old was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford with life-threatening injuries but his condition is now described as stable.

His parents, Charles and Eva, have thanked the emergency services and first-aiders for their help.

“We believe his lucky escape is due to a number of factors and some extraordinary people,” they said.

“We would like to thank the West Berkshire District Council for reducing the speed limit to 30 mph along the stretch of and the driver for keeping to the limit.

“We would also like to thank the kind first-aider who stopped to assist Toby, the lovely family who stopped to look after Toby's traumatised friends and the paramedics who were quickly on the scene and made all the right calls. We would also like to thank the air ambulance team and the police for getting Toby to the hospital so quickly and also the kind policemen who drove two crying distraught parents all the way to the hospital.

“Finally we would like to thank the wonderful team of doctors and nurses who saved our son's life and to all those involved in contributing to this positive outcome – of which, at one stage, we had almost given up hope.”