“SHE IS lucky to be alive.”

Those are the words of the relieved parents of a Hampshire teenager left scarred for life after she was hit by a lorry as she walked home from school with her friends.

Megan Tuffin was walking along the pavement in Sholing when the wing mirror of a passing seven-tonne lorry smashed into her head knocking her to the ground unconscious.

The friend she was with called her parents who rushed to the scene to find their 14-year-old daughter lying motionless on the pavement in Butts Road.

Speaking of the moment they found their daughter, Glen and Sarah Tuffin, said they feared the worse for their youngest child who was being treated by paramedics and a passing first aider.

Dad Glen, 46, a security guard at St Mary's, said: “I was just horrified when I saw her lying in the road and then seeing the wound on her head, which was so deep we could see her skull.

“I did fear the worst, so when she started talking to me I felt such a deep sense of relief.”

Megan was taken to Southampton General Hospital where doctors worked quickly to establish whether she had any broken bones in her neck.

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Once the x-rays came back clear, a plastic surgeon then got to work on the 7cm wound on her head, which needed more than 40 stitches to close.

Unfortunately Megan, of Warburton Road, Thornhill, has been told that she will have the scar on her forehead for life.

Sainsbury's worker Sarah, 34, said: “When I saw her lying on the ground I just think 'super mum' mode took over and I jumped out of the car while it was still moving and ran to her.

“I knew I couldn't show her that I was panicked.

“As her parent it is upsetting that she is scared for life but I am just glad she is alive to be honest. She may have the scar but she has her life.

“Someone was looking over her that day because we could have been sat here arranging her funeral.”

Megan also chipped a tooth and may also facing losing one if the nerves have suffered long-term damage.

The Chamberlayne College of Arts pupil, who is now recovering at home, said: “I just felt this massive bang and then a bleeping noise going on in my head. I couldn't understand where it was coming from. I was really scared because I didn't know what was happening.

She added: “I would like to thank all the passers-by who stopped and helped me, as well as the paramedics, hospital staff and police.”

The driver of the lorry stopped at the scene and Hampshire police are investigating the incident. No arrests have been made.

Daily Echo: Butts Road in Sholing