I thought my child was dead after e-scooter crash, says mum

A traumatised mum is calling for e-scooters to be banned after her four-year-old child was knocked down and injured in west Belfast.

Trionagh Hunte said she thought her son Dre was dead after being hit by an e-scooter as he exited a leisure centre in Dunmurry on Tuesday.

Dre had to be taken to hospital after suffering injuries to his face, legs and arms.

He is now back home recovering but his mum said she is worried what long term impact the crash could have on him.

She told BBC NI's Evening Extra radio programme that when she saw him on the ground, "I really thought that he was dead".

"I just remember scooping him up and putting his head on my chest. I was just seeing blood everywhere. Then I just started screaming for help," she said.

The pair had been out at the park enjoying the warm weather when Dre needed to go to the toilet.

They went to a nearby leisure centre and Dre was knocked down outside it at about 15:00 BST.

Trionagh praised the leisure centre staff who came out to help and the emergency services who arrived quickly.

But the event has left her traumatised and she said she worries what effect it could have on her young son.

"Everytime I close my eyes and try and go to sleep, it's all I can see. I'm barely sleeping," she said.

"Whenever people are asking him what happened he says 'a bad boy on a scooter knocked me down'.

"I'm hoping that he recovers from it and he doesn't have too much trauma. But I do think this is going to scar him for life."

As she was by her sons side when he was being cared for at the scene by emergency services Trionagh said young people on e-scooters continued to whizz by.

"I just went like, you don't have any respect. I want them banned. Someone is going to die from the use of them," she said.

It is illegal to ride a privately owned electric scooter in public for example on pavements, on roads or in parks.

People breaking the law can be fined and may have their e-scooter seized by police.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has seized 22 e-scooter so far this year, according to figures obtained through a freedom of information request.

In 2025 it seized 25, the year before that it seized four and in 2023 it seized two.

The majority of those seizures were made in Belfast.

Independent Councillor Paul Doherty said he wants the PSNI to have the power to permanently impound scrambler bikes and e-scooters.

"We are hearing that police are seizing scramblers and e-scooters after they've been used dangerously," he told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster radio programme.

"But days later they're then being collected by parents or guardians and end up back in the very same communities where they're putting lives at risk.

"My thoughts and that of the entire community are with this young child, his mother and the whole family."

Doherty added that this incident should "shake" people and wake them up to the dangers e-scooters can pose as well as "shame" those using them recklessly.

"We're seeing that day in, day out, not just in West Belfast, but I think right across this region, people putting others at serious risk," he said.

"And, you know, the reality is a family could have been preparing for their child's funeral today."

The PSNI said it received a report of a road traffic collision involving an e-scooter and a pedestrian on the Twinbrook Road in Dunmurry.

"Officers along with colleagues from other emergency services attended and a child was taken to hospital for treatment for their injuries," a spokesperson said.

They added that enquiries were ongoing and appealed for anyone with information to get in contact.