A three-year-old child was inches from death as two cars ploughed through the front garden wall at her home while she stood near the door with her dad, we can reveal.
Little Callie Corrigan had just returned from the shops with her dad Alan and was to the right side of the front door of their home in Dublin’s Finglas South while he opened it. Within seconds two cars ploughed into the front wall on Wednesday afternoon, just inches from where she was sitting on her new pink toy scooter.
The horror incident happened in Kippure Park, in Finglas, just after 2.30pm when a stationary car with four women inside was smashed into by another vehicle coming around a corner. The women were dropping off a friend who lives nearby.
The resulting impact sent the two cars into the front garden wall of the home of Alan and Aisling Corrigan — leaving them in shock when the wall collapsed and the cars landed just inches from their precious three-year-old daughter.
The four women in the stationary car were all rushed to hospital where they were treated for their injuries, which are believed not to be life-threatening. The condition of the driver of the other car is unknown.
Speaking exclusively about the incident, both Alan and Aisling are counting their blessings that little Callie was unharmed.
And they are now calling on Dublin City Council for immediate action to be taken to stop speeding on St Helena’s Road.
“We don’t allow Callie to play in the garden because of traffic speeding along the road, fearing something like this would happen,” Aisling said yesterday.
“She and Alan had just returned from the shop. There is a wide bend on the road just outside our house. It’s known locally as the Ring Road Bend and a lot of cars speed along it. Two months ago, a motorcyclist crashed into the lamppost just outside our house.
“Callie’s toy pram was crushed underneath the wall and cars. It was a freak accident. If she was inches closer to the wall on her toy motorbike she would have been crushed, too. The wall and cars would have come down on her. She was inches from death.”
“I think the wall stopped the cars from coming through our house,” Aisling said.
Alan described the incident as “something coming towards us at slow motion”.
“Myself and Callie had just returned from the shop and she was on her toy scooter and stayed to the right of the door while I was opening it. All of a sudden the two cars came at us in slow motion. The wall came down between us. It was horrific” he said, adding that Callie was in a little bit of shock but was unharmed.
Both Alan and Aisling are now calling on Dublin City Council to take immediate action for traffic calming measures to be put in place on the stretch of road.
“Speeding along this stretch of road is an ongoing problem. Maybe speed cameras could be an option as when it hits speeders where it hurts, in their pockets and with penalty points, they might take heed and slow down,” Alan said.
“More speed bumps should also be put in place,” he added.
Local councillor Noeleen Reilly, who is very familiar with St Helena’s Road, told The Star yesterday she has written to the council calling for an immediate traffic review.
“Wednesday’s crash is a real shock to everyone involved, and the council needs to take action as the next time it could be a lot worse. Even thinking about what could have happened, it requires immediate action.”
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