Mother, child in China cheat death — twice — after car knocks them off bridge and almost falls on them

HONG KONG — A mother and her six-year-old son escaped alive after they were knocked off a bridge by an SUV in southwestern China last week, Chinese media reported.

The mother and child were walking along a bridge near the entrance of a hospital in Chongqing on Feb 12 when a black SUV on the other side suddenly reversed into them, the Chongqing Economic Times reported.

Surveillance footage showed the car crashing into railings and knocking the pair off the bridge.

In the split seconds before the vehicle — perched precariously on the edge of the bridge — fell over, the injured woman quickly crawled over to her son to protect him using her body and tried to move the both of them away.

The SUV then fell off the bridge, crashing into the ground beside them at the spot where the woman had been only a while ago.

The woman said she thought only of her son when she saw the car reversing into them, but managed only to grab her son’s hand before they were hit.

“I had nothing on my mind but my child. He is my only child,” the woman was quoted as saying.

The six-year-old was seriously injured and admitted into intensive care in the Chongqing Children’s Hospital. His mother suffered a fractured pelvis.

The SUV driver, a middle-aged woman, crawled out of the car unhurt after the accident.

The driver said she was new to driving and that she lost control of the car after she hit the brake pedal and clutch at the same time. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST