Boy crawls a quarter of a mile home after hit-and-run

AUSTIN -- (KXAN) -- A 10-year-old boy had to crawl a quarter of a mile home after getting struck by a hit-and-run driver in northwest Austin Friday afternoon.

Heather Brady said when her son, Caden Walsh, showed up at the house, he had a big gash in his leg. Walsh says he was walking home on Hyemeadow Drive near Lake Creek Parkway when the driver jumped onto the sidewalk and struck him.

The impact pushed Walsh into a tree and he became disoriented, and when he realized how much he was bleeding he crawled back to his home. All he remembers was that thevehicle that hit him was a dark-colored SUV.

“[I was] scared, I really didn't know what was gonna happen, I'd never had an injury at a time that bad,” Walsh said. “I haven't ever broken any bones, not nothing.”

Walsh's stepfather, Jay Brady, recalled what happened when Walsh came in the door that day. Walsh thought he had lost his phone when he was hit, and by 3:35, his stepdad was starting to wonder where he was — then there was a noise at the door.

“He's down at the bottom of the stairs, his leg is just covered in blood, he probably has a ball pin hammer sized chunk of his leg missing, he's just screaming blood-curdling screams,” Jay Brady recalled.

They rushed Walsh to the hospital. While he didn't suffer any broken bones, he had to get stitches for his leg wound.

“He could have been dead on the side of the road because somebody just took off, because they didn't care enough to even go check on him, they just took off, what kind of person does that?” wondered Walsh's mother, who is now making a plea to the public to find out who hit her son and left him on the side of the road. “Somebody out there knows something and we just want that person to come forward so we can get justice for our 10-year-old son.”

“He's doing OK, he's in some pain. He decided to go to school today on crutches and everything,” Brady said. Walsh can't play football at recess now, and his parents aren't allowing him to walk home from school.

Brady did go around to local businesses nearby and ask if they had surveillance footage, but none did. She is hoping that anyone in the area who might have seen something or have video of the hit-and-run will come forward.

If you have information about this case, contact the APD Leaving the Scene Unit at (512) 974-5789 or Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS or text “Tip 103” + your message to CRIMES. You can also submit tips by downloading APD's mobile app, Austin PD, for free on iPhone and Android.