'We just want her back': Four-year-old girl suffers life-threatening injuries after vehicle hits her near local fair

A four-year-old girl is on life-support at an ICU in Toronto after getting hit by a car near the Norwood Fair in Norwood, Ont. on Monday.

Daniel Foley had taken his three kids - Sophie Foley, 4, Daniel Foley, 5, and Audrey Gillie, 11 - to the last day of the Norwood Fair with some family friends. It was the first time in two years the fair was up and running over the Thanksgiving weekend.

“We took the kids on rides, we took them into a couple of the buildings where the animals were because my kids love animals, especially Sophie,” Foley told CTV News Toronto, adding his youngest daughter was the only one who could get close enough to feed the cow at the fair that day.

After, Foley and the kids went to watch the fire trucks drive by as they exited the fair.

"They wanted to see the fire trucks and we waited till we've seen the fire trucks drive past us on our way out, and right after that she got hit by [a] f****** truck," he said.

In a news release, Peterborough County OPP said a vehicle was driving down Alma Street at around 5:15 p.m., which is near the fair. Police did not confirm what kind of vehicle it was.

Foley says his kids saw everything happen – “they’re traumatized.”

“They watched me hold her lifeless body in my hands, screaming for help,” he said. “I can’t get the vision out of my head. It repeats over, and over, and over again, what happened.”

While Foley couldn’t provide much information about the accident, as there is an ongoing police investigation, he said there was an off-duty nurse and a retired prison guard that came to help right when it happened.

“I held her f****** dead body in my hands for almost 10 minutes, screaming for someone to help me, and they came like two frickin’ angels, man, they came running over and did everything,” Foley said.

“The doctor said if it wasn't for that, there’s a very, very good chance that Sophie would not be even here right now. Those people saved her life, without a doubt, without a single doubt.”

AIRLIFTED TO THE HOSPITAL

While Peterborough County OPP didn’t confirm the Toronto-based hospital where Sophie is being treated, Foley confirmed Sophie was airlifted to SickKids with her mother, Natasha Gillie.

“She’s in the ICU. She’s still on life-support, but she had an operation yesterday evening,” he said, adding the procedure was to reduce the swelling in Sophie’s brain.

Four-year-old Sophie Foley at the hospital. (Daniel Foley/Facebook)

According to Foley, Sophie has a fractured skull, and a large cut on her liver.

“They have her in a medically induced coma,” he said. “She hasn’t necessarily improved but at the same time, she is stable, so I mean, I’m grateful for that at least.”

“I’m not leaving until she leaves,” Foley says.

A GOFUNDME HAS BEEN CREATED

A GoFundMe, set up by Gillie’s good friend, Tanya Stanley, has raised over $28,000 of the $35,000 goal for the family.

“We weren’t even expecting that,” Foley said. “We are freaking overwhelmed by the support from the community.”

“We just want her back. That’s all we care about, we just want our daughter back. We want her to wake up,” Foley says.

Peterborough County OPP say the cause of the collision is still under investigation and is appealing for witnesses who saw what happened or have any video footage to contact them at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122.