The father of a 14-year-old boy who was left with horrific injuries following a hit-and-run incident has begged the car driver to hand themselves in to gardai.

Tallaght teenager Sean O’Reilly was hit by a vehicle while crossing the Cheeverstown Road on his bike.

Witnesses said he had a green man at a crossing point when a dark car came speeding through the bus lane and ploughed into him.

Sean suffered a fractured skull, leg and elbow as well as severe bruising and is still undergoing scans and tests at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.

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He is on as many painkillers as a boy of his age and weight can handle as gardai try to find out who was responsible.

Sean’s leg is so badly damaged that he has a ‘halo’ device on it, with metal screws going to the bone.

From his bedside, Sean’s dad John urged the car driver to come forward.

“Go to the gardai, or if you suspect someone who may have been responsible, report them,” he said.

“Just look at Sean. He did nothing wrong. It will take him a long time to recover from this.

“If this was your son, your brother, your nephew, your friend, what would you want? You would want the driver found.”

Mr O’Reilly said emergency crews at the scene of the incident told him Sean is lucky to be alive.

“The bike gave him extra height. If he was walking it could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Mr O’Reilly described receiving a phone call from a stranger to tell him that Sean had been knocked down.

“I don’t know who it was. A friend’s brother was also near the scene and rang me. I was there within minutes of it happening,” he said.

“I just lay down on the road with him and tried to comfort him as best I could.

“To be honest, when I saw the wreckage of his bike I was convinced he was dead.

“I had only just gone over his bike a few days ago and made sure he had lights.

“He told me he used the green man to get from one side of the road to the island in the middle, and then waited again for the green man to get to the other side.

“The cars had stopped for him and he was crossing when a dark car came down the bus lane and hit him.

“It was going so fast that nobody could really tell what it was or get a registration number.

“Sean is a great guy. He’s in Junior Cert year in Mount Seskin and was about to do his mocks, but we don’t know what will happen now.

“He’s a mannerly lad, and likes cycling and boxing, so he’s fit, and hopefully that will help him.”

The incident happened at around 8.50pm on Sunday, and gardai are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

The car that was involved was described as a black saloon, possibly a Volkswagen Passat or a Saab.

CCTV may be crucial in the investigation, and gardai are currently assessing hours of footage collected from nearby cameras and from buses travelling in the area.

Dashcam footage could also prove crucial, as even if it did not capture the accident it could have recorded the car approaching or leaving the area.

The car was very likely to have sustained damage from the impact.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or may have information is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.

Herald