Search for ‘hit-run’ driver finds culprit close to home
The town of Cheltenham, about 150km north-west of London, was the scene of the hit-and-run. Photo: Shutterstock
A UK dad has discovered he was the person responsible for an accidental hit-and-run that nearly took the life of his 15-month-old son last week.
Gloucestershire father Jamie Ellison launched a Facebook campaign to find the person responsible for what he believed to be a random hit-and-run after his son, AJ, was mysteriously found with serious injuries.
A police investigation later discovered Mr Ellison had accidentally run over his own son and driven away.
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“It’s a horrible tragedy and no one is more sorry than I am as I look at cuts and bruises on my son, constantly thinking what if, what if,” he wrote on Facebook.
Earlier in the day, Mr Ellison had loaded his three older children into the car and driven them to school, returning home to find emergency services parked out the front of his Cheltenham home.
“I drop [my daughters] at school at which time my girlfriend has alerted me that AJ has been hit by a vehicle. Naturally I get to the scene with police ambulances etc,” he wrote on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.
“Of course, I’m assuming it’s a hit and run as I had no idea I reversed into my son on the blind side.
“My two daughters were also unaware he was there.”
The town of Cheltenham, about 150km north-west of London, was the scene of the hit-and-run. Photo: Shutterstock
The toddler had been waving goodbye to his siblings from a window in the family home as they were strapped into the car.
Mr Ellison said he was unaware the 15-month-old had left the house.
‘Please understand this is an accident’
Mr Ellison faced public backlash after the incident was reported in local media, according to the Bath Chronicle.
In a post to social media, he insisted the hit-and-run was not intentional.
“Could you imagine what I felt like then knowing I nearly killed my own son completely unaware that I was responsible,” he wrote.
“You really think I hit him on purpose to do a school run only to get in an ambulance with him 10 minutes later. Think about that.
“Then I have to collect my other son and two daughters from school and inform them about their brother… I hope its a chat you never have to go through.”
The toddler was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for observation with non-life threatening injuries.
He soon returned home and was “recovering well”, according to Mr Ellison.
Gloucestershire Constabulary confirmed the responsible vehicle was driven by “a close family member”.
“The collision is not being treated as suspicious and no further action will be taken against the driver of the vehicle at this time,” they posted to social media.
In March, a five-year-old boy from Mildura in north-west Victoria was accidentally hit and killed by his mother as he walked along a residential street.
He had been in the car with his mother before getting out and running the final 200m home, a common occurrence, according to police.
