Family release hit-run photo

Lying unconscious in intensive care, 12-year-old Jody Duffin fights for her life days after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Her distraught family released the image of her hooked up to a respirator, her head strapped and wired up to lifesaving technology, in a desperate bid to appeal to the driver who sped off shortly after hitting Jody.

The keen gymnast and dancer had just stepped off a bus in Tudor Drive, Morden, on Saturday afternoon when she was struck by the light-coloured car, which police believe may have been a people carrier - possibly with ladders or a roof rack attached.

The youngster lay motionless on the ground as passers-by, who witnessed the terrifying collision, frantically dialled 999. Paramedics gave her emergency treatment at the scene before she was taken to hospital, where doctors are now working around the clock to save her life.

Today, her mother Amanda Duffin, who has kept up a bedside vigil ever since the incident, spoke of the family's anguish and urged the driver to come forward.

She said: "We hope that these pictures of Jody will prick someone's conscience or memory.

"Also, if this stops just one kid from running across the road and stops another set of parents going through what we're going through, perhaps we will be able to make some kind of sense of this."

The driver is believed to have stopped briefly at the scene, pulling the car into the side of the road, before driving away. It is thought that the car will have suffered minor damage to the front near-side and officers are appealing for members of the public to report anything suspicious.

Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We are urgently appealing for assistance in tracing a driver whose vehicle was in collision with 12-year-old Jody Duffin as she was crossing the road. The incident happened just after 16.30 on Saturday,