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26th Apr 2022

Toddler “lucky to be alive” after being hit by scrambler in Tallaght

Sarah McKenna Barry

Holly was left with a broken shoulder, cuts and bruises.

Last night’s edition of Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ left viewers shocked after a mother recounted an incident in which her three-year-old daughter was hit by a scrambler in the Sean Walsh Memorial Park in Tallaght.

Sarah Lewis told Byrne that she was out for a walk with her children and her mother earlier this month when they spotted young men in the park on a scrambler, which is a motorised bike.

Ms Lewis said: “My mam made a comment that they were going to hit somebody, and unfortunately, ten minutes later they came up beside us, and they went straight into Holly and sent her flying face-first into the ground.

“The bike went over her back, her shoulder and her head.”

The mother said that her daughter was lying there for a few moments, while she herself was “frozen” in shock. She claimed that the boy who hit her daughter got back on his bike and sped off.

Holly sustained a broken shoulder, as well as cuts and bruises and she was subsequently taken to Tallaght General Hospital for treatment.

She said that Holly is very lucky to have survived, and added that it could have been a lot worse.

Ms Lewis is now calling for a complete ban on scramblers in public areas to prevent another child from being hit.

She said: “They should be completely scrapped.”

After the incident first occurred, Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart took to Twitter to say that a new law regarding scramblers is expected to go before the Oireachtas’ Transport Committee and then Dáil Éireann.

This law would give Gardaí the power to confiscate scramblers when they are being used in a dangerous and irresponsible way.

Mr Lahart also spoke about another scheme that would discourage young people from using scramblers.