Father’s delight as hit-and-run toddler is allowed to go home

Two-year-old Rayhan Saleem was discharged from Leeds General Infirmary after being struck by a car in Leeds.

He along with his 10-year-old sister Sabah were seriously hurt as they walked home from a shop in Hyde Park on August 18.

There was further good news yesterday with the announcement that Sabah, who is thought to have stepped in front of the car trying to protect her brother, is expected to make a full recovery.

Many had feared the worst for the young girl who remains in hospital in Leeds but is no longer in intensive care.

Their father Mohammed Saleem Rafique told the Yorkshire Post how he had returned home from work when he heard a bang and discovered his daughter and son covered in blood on Brudenell Road.

He said: “I went running to my son and saw my daughter behind me gasping for air. There was blood everywhere. It was like the worst nightmare you could ever imagine.

“For the first three or four days I only had two hours’ sleep and kept on going to my daughter all the time. She was on that many machines I just couldn’t bear it.”

Rayhan has no memory of what happened and thinks he fell while playing on a swing.

IT analyst Mr Rafique, 37, said: “Rayhan is slowly coming back to himself. It is just Sabah we need to concentrate on now. We have seen some positive signs from her and the doctors and nurses have been brilliant.”

He said the family were touched by the amount of support they received from the public.

Police arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident; a 39-year-old man on suspicion of dangerous driving; and a 26-year-old man on suspicion of assisting an offender.

All three, from Leeds, are currently on bail and have not been charged.