Mother tells of terrifying moment her daughter was knocked down and injured by cyclist

A girl of five was left with horrific head injuries after she was mown down by a cyclist on the pavement outside her home.

Millie Harrop was knocked to the ground so violently as she stepped out of the front door that her skull was fractured.

It was feared she may have been brain damaged and it took a team of surgeons four hours to stem internal bleeding on her brain.

Her family say she is now in a serious but stable condition.

Yesterday, her mother Claire Kent, who has been at her daughter's bedside since the accident, said: 'I heard a huge bang and I knew she'd hit her head on something. It all happened so quickly.

'The dent in her head was huge. I was expecting there to be blood, but there wasn't any – just a big hole.

'We called the ambulance and we were trying to keep her awake but all she wanted to do was shut her eyes and go to sleep.

'I was trying to find out where it hurt, but she couldn't speak properly. It was horrific and she's so lucky to be alive.'

Mrs Kent added: 'I'm just thanking God she's still with us.'

Millie was knocked down in daylight on Friday, outside her mother's high street flat in Cheltenham. 

Police sealed off the area and are treating the accident as a major crime scene

Mrs Kent said Millie had simply stepped on to the pavement while a workman was fixing the front door's buzzer before the cyclist crashed into her.

As she fell, Millie is believed to have cracked her head on a metal bollard, fracturing her skull and causing massive internal bleeding around the brain.

She was taken to Cheltenham General Hospital with life-threatening head injuries, and transferred to a children's unit at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol later that evening.

Surgeons struggled for four hours to stem blood loss in her head, before fitting metal plates to cover the open fractures in her skull.

Millie's family say she is now in a stable condition and is likely to make a full recovery. Mrs Kent, who is separated from Millie's father, said: 'Waiting for the surgeons to finish operating was agonising.

'She's had metal plates put in her head so she's had to have her hair shaved off. Her head's bandaged at the moment so it's going to be difficult telling Millie about that.

'I'm just relieved it's over now and that she's sat up chatting away and eating. It could have been a lot worse. She's going to have to be carefully monitored and she won't be able to run around like every five-year-old does for a bit.

'We're due to fly out to Australia for a couple of months when school finishes to stay with my parents, but we're going to have to wait to see if Millie is allowed to fly.'

Gloucestershire Police said a woman cyclist was being questioned about the incident.

No arrests have been made. Sergeant Steve Jones said: 'The girl's injuries are significant but improving. A cyclist has been traced.'