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11-Year-Old Boy Recovering From Broken Ribs, Collapsed Lung After Hit-And-Run In Dorchester

BOSTON (CBS) - Fifth grader Francis Nedwell is sitting in a Boston Children's Hospital bed, blowing into a tube to measure his lung recovery every few hours.

The 11-year-old was hit by a car as he walked to school with his 13-year-old sister on Wednesday morning in Dorchester. The car, a white SUV, hit him, throwing, and pinning him under another car. As Francis lay stuck, the driver that hit him drove away.

"Honestly, I don't know how human this person is," Francis' aunt Kimberly told WBZ. "I don't understand how you can hit somebody."

As of Thursday, Boston Police had recovered the car in question but had not yet arrested the driver.

Francis underwent surgery at Boston Medical Center and is now receiving treatment at Children's Hospital. His aunt says he has a collapsed lung and six broken ribs, among other injuries.

"He is stable," she said. "That's what the doctors are saying. That's the only word we can hear from them is 'stable.' He hasn't talked much. He's complaining about pain."

Doctors have told Francis' family that he should be okay in the long run, but the road to recovery will be just that - long.

Francis Nedwell
Francis Nedwell. (WBZ-TV)

"It's so bad," Jones said. "He's [typically] really active and to see him laying in bed like that is really traumatic for everybody."

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