By FairfaxMedia
A learner driver has been charged with a hit-run at Laverton that left a toddler fighting for life on Sunday night.
Two-year-old Damon Michell had ran out on to Railway Avenue when the incident occurred just before 9pm.
His mother’s cousin, Katie Moran, said Damon had just celebrated his second birthday on Father’s Day, September 2.
“He is a beautiful little boy,” she said. “He is affectionate, cheeky, always wanting to help and loves his baby sister and his older brothers and sister.”
It’s understood that while Damon is no longer critical, he remains in intensive care in The Royal Children’s Hospital in an induced coma.
A fundraising page has been set up by relatives to help with medical costs.
Police say the driver of a Holden station wagon travelling east-bound allegedly didn’t stop after hitting the boy. Police later found the car abandoned at an Altona Meadows shopping centre.
A 21-year-old man was arrested at a home on Railway Avenue in Laverton. He has been charged with failing to stop, failing to render assistance and being a learner driver unaccompanied by a full licence holder.
He was released on bail to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.
Police request anyone with information or who witnessed the incident, and anyone with dash cam footage, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
