​Hopes and prayers for young man in Longford e-scooter crash

A young man seriously injured in an e-scooter crash on Battery Road on Friday night is in the 'thoughts and prayers' of the entire school community and staff at St Mel's College in Longford town as he battles for his life.

​The 18-year-old driver, who has been described as a 'lovely, kind and gentle person,' suffered serious head injuries in the single vehicle collision and he was brought to Regional Hospital Mullingar and transferred to Beaumont Hospital.

The young man, who only completed his Leaving Cert at St Mel's in June and recently obtained his results, was in a critical condition in a coma on Tuesday afternoon.

A female teenager, who was a passenger and juvenile on the e-scooter, was brought to Regional Hospital Mullingar after sustaining non-life-threatening injuries in the single vehicle collision at 10.40pm on August 28 last.

She has since been released from hospital.

There are hopes the condition of the young man, who also attended St Joseph's National School, will improve over the coming days and he will make a full recovery from his injuries.

St Mel's College principal Malachy Flanagan said, "He is in our thoughts and prayers of all the staff and the school community of St Mel's.

"He is a past pupil, a lovely, kind and gentle young person."

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following the crash as they try to piece together the circumstances of the serious incident.

Garda Forensic Collision Investigators carried out a technical examination of the scene and the road was closed for several hours.

A Garda spokesman said, "Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

"Road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam, and were travelling in the vicinity of Battery Road, Longford, county. Longford between 10.15pm and 10.45pm on Friday, August 28 are asked to make this available to Gardaí."

Local Fianna Fáil Councillor Ureumu Adejinmi said the Longford town community are hoping the young man will recover. It’s very sad, it’s heartbreaking to learn that a young man came to such harm and my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and his friends.

“The whole community is deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident and I pray he makes a full recovery and gets back to fulfilling his aspirations and getting back to college life or work and spending time with his family and friends and working towards a bright future. I pray for his full recovery and and for him to just resume normal life activity and I thinking about his family at this time.”

Gardaí have asked anyone with information to contact Longford Garda Station on (043) 335 0570, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.