A SCHOOLGIRL who suffered serious injuries after she was struck by a car has told of her miraculous escape from death.Francesca Marchant, 13, was thrown 40ft and left unconscious in the road as a result of the collision, which happened on her way home from school on the A137 at Cattawade on March 1.

A SCHOOLGIRL who suffered serious injuries after she was struck by a car has told of her miraculous escape from death.

Francesca Marchant, 13, was thrown 40ft and left unconscious in the road as a result of the collision, which happened on her way home from school on the A137 at Cattawade on March 1.

Doctors feared the worst and spent hours painstakingly rebuilding her shattered left leg.

The East Bergholt High School pupil spent seven days in hospital and has large bolts and 18 staples fitted to hold her left knee together.

She will have to undergo more operations in a bid to heal her leg but doctors say it is a miracle she is still alive.

The teenager is now recovering from her injuries at home in Steam Mill Road, Bradfield.

"I am so lucky. I feel so pleased really because it could have been so much worse. They didn't know whether I had fractured my spine. To come out with a broken leg after being hit by a car is quite unbelievable.

"I didn't wake up until 8pm that evening and it happened at 4.30pm. It knocked me out completely.

The accident happened just after Francesca and her friend had got off the school bus at Brantham.

The teenager usually gets off at the Manningtree stop, where her father was waiting to pick her up, but the bus finished its journey early and the pair decided to walk.

"The best thing we thought to do was to walk home and try and find a pathway. We went to cross the road and that's all I can remember," she said.

"I was in agony in hospital. I spent seven days in hospital and had two-and-a-half hours' surgery on my knee on the Tuesday morning.

"My face was all bruised with lumps and bumps. I had a black eye but it's gone down since the accident."

Francesca has already had one operation to place the screws in her left knee and will have to have another to remove them when she is 16.

Meanwhile, she will be restricted from taking part in many sports and will never be able to ski.

She is expected to be off school for many more weeks while her leg heals and she will also have physiotherapy to help her walk properly again.

Her mother Sue Buckle said: "The police obviously said she was lucky to be alive. Fran's father called me when I was at work in London as soon as it happened and I had a two-hour journey. It was sickening wondering whether she was OK."

Francesca's father, Keith Marchant, said: "I went to look for her because she had not turned up on the bus. I found the scene of the accident and she was lying in the road with paramedics around her. I thought she was dead."

nA 44-year-old man has been released on police bail in connection with the accident and is due to report to Ipswich police station on April 7.