Girl out of danger after freak road accident

The condition of the seven-year-old girl, who was seriously injured in a freak road accident is stable and out of danger, the doctor who treated her said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Limassol police reiterated a public call for information to help clarify the circumstances of the accident on Monday which led to the severe injury of the child.

Health minister Popi Kanari visited Makarios children’s hospital, where the seven-year-old remains intubated following surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries at the Nicosia general hospital.

The health minister was briefed on the child’s condition during her visit, occasioned by the start of surgeries by doctors from Shiners’ Hospitals in the USA.

Medical director and head of Paediatric Surgery Dr Christos Minas reported that the seven-year-old had suffered head trauma through a “very rare and largely improbable mechanism”.

“After the injury the child was taken to the Limassol general hospital, where tests were carried out that diagnosed a skull fracture and possible haematoma,” he said.

Subsequently, he said, she was transferred to the Nicosia hospital, where severe brain injury with a skull fracture with haematoma were confirmed, and neurosurgery followed, to drain the haematoma.

The child was intubated around midnight in the Intensive Care Unit of the Makarios hospital, Minas said.

He noted that her neurological status will be assessed after extubating, which will take place within the next 24 to 48 hours, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Kanari, who visited the child and offered her well-wishes, expressed optimism about the child’s medical progress and condition.

“We have excellent doctors in this unit. We believe that everything will be fine,” the minister said.

The child was in a vehicle driven by her 38-year-old father when she was struck by a rock on the head on Monday.

Police said the rock seemed to have been catapulted from the wheels of an oncoming truck, on the old Limassol to Nicosia road, in the Monte Caputo area.

The stone smashed through the windshield of the car driven by the father and seriously injured the young girl in the backseat.

The incident was reported by the child’s father who was seen by police at Limassol hospital around 1.50pm.

“This is an incident unlike any we have ever seen,” police spokesman Christos Andreou told state broadcaster CyBC.

“We are asking for anyone who may be able to identify the truck to come forward,” he said, acknowledging the possibility that the driver of the truck may not have noticed the incident.

Police have called on the public to contact the Moni police station or the citizens’ hotline at 1460 with any information while continuing the investigation.