Girl, 4, in hospital after being hit by car

The skidmarks where the car tried to avoid the girl. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The girl narrowly avoided being hit by a bus as she ran across a busy road before being struck by an overtaking car.

Witnesses claimed the youngster – who is understood to have slipped away from her grandmother – was “lucky to be alive”.

They told how the bus driver slammed on the brakes, coming to a halt just inches from the youngster after she ran out in front of him in Muirhouse Parkway, close to the junction with Muirhouse View, yesterday afternoon.

Laura Heath, left, and Lana Paterson helped the little girl until the ambulance arrived. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The car driver then swerved into the central reservation, leaving long skid marks in the grass, but was unable to stop in time and struck the girl.

She was taken to the Sick Kids Hospital with head injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.

Quick-thinking Laura Heath, 26, who saw what happened from the bus stop, told the Evening News how she dashed out to scoop up the injured girl and then carried her to safety.

She said: “The girl just slipped away from her gran and ran out in the middle of the road. The car tried to stop in time but hit the wee girl.

The girl was taken to the Sick Kids hospital with a head injury. Picture: Jane Barlow

“She was thrown up in the air and then fell down to the side of the car. I didn’t even look out for any other traffic. I just ran to save her and took her in my arms. She was screaming and hysterical.”

Mother-of-three Lana Paterson, 27, who was on the number 16 Lothian bus, helped dab the girl’s wound using tissue paper and tried to calm her down until the ambulance arrived.

She said: “It could have been a lot worse. She could have been killed. She is lucky to be alive.

“The bus driver managed to brake but another car came up the side and hit her. My friend scooped her up and brought her onto the grass. The little girl had a hole in her nose and she was covered in blood. She was crying and kept complaining that her nose hurt.

“I said ‘It’s okay, the ambulance is coming’.”

It is understood that the child’s mother, father and uncle later came to the scene of the accident.

Both women praised the quick-thinking bus driver, who remained at the scene with the driver of the car.

Witnesses said both men had been left visibly shaken by what had happened and that the driver of the car was “in bits”.

A spokesman for Lothian Buses said: “This was clearly a distressing incident and our driver has done his bit by

alerting the emergency services and helping on the scene until they arrived.”

A police spokesman said: “Police in Edinburgh were called to Muirhouse Parkway at around 1pm yesterday following a report of a road traffic collision involving a Volkswagen Golf and a child.

“The four-year-old was taken to the Sick Kids Hospital with a head injury, which is not thought to be life-threatening.

“Muirhouse Parkway was partially closed westbound to allow police and the ambulance service access. Anyone who witnessed this incident is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”