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Family praying for stricken Mohammed
28/ 6/2004
A BOY of two who was fighting for his life after being hit by a
taxi in Oldham is now stable and will be coming home soon from
hospital.
Mohammed Izhar Ul-Haq Khalid was critically ill in hospital after
colliding with a Toyota Avensis while playing with friends in
Grange Avenue, Oldham.
He was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital with serious head
injuries and later transferred to a specialist unit in Leeds, where
his condition was described as stable.
The accident is the second tragedy in as many years to hit the
boy's family.
Two years ago his taxi driver father, Khalid Ejaz, was killed when
a drunk driver crashed into his cab in Prestwich.
Mohammed's sister Layla Khalid, aged 23, said all the family were
praying for him and that her mother was keeping a 24-hour vigil by
the injured boy's bedside.
She said: "We were just so shocked when we heard what had happened.
Our little brother needs a lot of prayers now."
His elder brother Usman Khalid said he was playing in front of the
house with Mohammed when he threw a tantrum and stepped onto the
road when the taxi was driving past.
He said: "There were two cars parked in front of our house and he
went in between them and then stepped onto the road and was
hit.
"We are all still worried about him and can't wait for him to come
home."
Mr Ejaz's family were outraged when drunken driver Aaron Peter
O'Reilly, aged 19, was jailed for only four-and-a-half years in
February last year for causing the deaths of three people, Mr Ejaz,
his passenger, Stella Shaw from Prestwich and his own passenger,
step-brother Arron Croft.
The Attorney General rejected a bid by prosecutors to get the
sentence lengthened.
The 35-year-old taxi driver who hit Mohammed faces no
charges.
PC Martin Slater, of Oldham Road Policing Unit, urged parents to be
extra vigilant with children following the accident.
He said: "There has been a spate of accidents involving children
who are playing outside during half term.
"We are appealing to parents to warn their children of the dangers
of playing near the roadside, and to make sure they are
supervised."
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