When little Koby Dack asks his mum what happened to the hit and run driver that hurt him, she lies.
In a loving attempt to protect her boy from any more trauma Andrea Suniga says David Wood, who drove off after colliding with Koby on a North Shields road, is in jail.
But the painful truth is the driver walked free from court after admitting failing to stop after an accident and three counts of driving over the controlled drug limit, despite leaving Koby injured by the kerb.
Today, six months on from the terrifying incident the four-year-old is still living with the physical and emotional effects of the incident. Andrea says her little boy, who suffered multiple injuries in the collision, is still in pain.
Medics have told her an injury to his knee, which causes Koby's leg to give way and affects his balance, might never heal. And heartbreakingly the mum has watched her son change from a happy, lively boy to a quiet, nervous child since the collision.
Andrea said: "He's not the same little boy that he was. It's heartbreaking. He asks if the bad man that hurt him is in jail, and I say 'yes'
"I just say he's in jail to protect him. I want him to think the bad guys go to jail so he's not scared."
Andrea, 37, was on her way home from shopping with Koby in North Shields when the collision happened on Waterville Road, in April She says her son was flung 20ft before landing on the road by the kerb.
Three ambulances were sent to the scene and Koby was taken to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, in Cramlington, where he underwent X-Rays and a CT scan.
But thankfully his injuries were not life-threatening and the Riverside Primary School pupil was able to return to his North Shields home the following night.
But Andrea fears the incident may have changed her little boy forever.
"He was really confident, but now he's very very wary around roads. He just won't leave my side," she said. "It's been heartbreaking to see,
"He's always in pain with his knee. He's going to be like this for the rest of his life. He won't let anyone touch his knee. His leg gives way all the time and he loses his balance.
Wood was given a community order after pleading guilty to failing to stop after an accident and three counts of driving over the controlled drug limit.
The 50-year-old, of Closefield Grove, in Monkseaton, Whitley Bay was also banned from driving for 12 months.
Wood’s drug driving charges related to cocaine and THC – a psychoactive substance derived from cannabis.
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