'Mum, I don't want to die' - Merseyside schoolboy 'left for dead' in horror hit-and-run

Zach Michaels, 15, was riding a push bike home from his gran’s house in December, when a speeding car “mowed him over.” Despite riding down a residential street, his mum, Maria Michaels, 43, claims the car was doing 70 miles per hour - and Zach was left in a “heap” on the floor.

Maria, a nurse from Kirby, said: “Zach is an amazingly brave boy. It’s going to be a really, really long time before he’ll be discharged from hospital. He’s got his amputation wound which will need healing, his fractures and tendons need to heal. I can’t even think that far ahead, right now.”

On December 22, Zach had left the home of his gran, Irene Martin, 70, and began cycling the five minute journey back to his mum’s house. Just moments after he set off, while riding down a school lane, he was struck by a speeding grey Honda Civic.

Zach’s aunt, Shemina Wright, said her nephew was “left for dead” as the car then fled the scene. Residents on the street heard the impact, and began bringing him blankets and offering help - as well as calling emergency services.

“They alerted my mum, who told me and my partner,” Maria said. “We got in the car and drove down - by the time we got there, the police had already arrived. Zach’s body was just contorted; the shape he’d been left in didn’t look normal.

“He was fully conscious the whole time, and he just kept saying: ‘Mum, mum, I don’t want to die.’ Paramedics had to stabilise him in the middle of the road, because it was the safest thing to do - he had bones protruding from his body.”

Once Zach was stabilised, he was rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, and sent straight to theatre. His numerous injuries included open fractures to the right leg, a fractured spine and ligament damage to the neck. He had to undergo a different surgery every day, over seven days - resulting in an above-the-knee amputation on his right leg.

“It just got to a point where that leg had no blood supply,” Maria added. “Eventually the doctors said: ‘We’ve tried everything we can, and we’re going to have to amputate.’ It was absolutely heartbreaking. I’ve never done anything in my life as hard as signing that consent form - but he would’ve died if I hadn’t.”

Two days after his amputation, Zach was taken off his ventilator and began to regain consciousness. His parents waited until he was lucid to explain to him about his leg.

When Maria and ex-partner Chris Farr, 39, told Zach about the amputation, he began “begging for his leg back.” She said: “He was begging us for his leg back, and begging to come home. He said: ‘Please, please, I don’t want to be here.’ It wasn’t until yesterday [January 4], that this brave boy asked to see his leg for the first time.

“He looked at the stump, and he had a cry. But later on, he said: ‘Right, I’m just going to do this and get on with it,’ just like the old Zach.”

Doctors aren’t sure how long Zach will be under hospital care for - his recovery could take months. As well as rehabilitation on his right leg, Zach may need to learn how to grip with his left wrist again, due to tendon damage.

His aunt, Shemina Wright, has set up a JustGiving page for his recovery. The crowdfunder has raised more than £8,800 so far - and will be donated towards accessibility equipment for when he is discharged.