A man has been charged over yesterday's car accident that critically injured Sophie Delezio, the five-year-old Sydney girl who received burns to 85 per cent of her body when a car careered into her kindergarten in 2003.
Yesterday, a car struck Sophie as she was pushed in a stroller across a pedestrian crossing at Seaforth in north Sydney.
Sophie lost both feet and some fingers in the crash almost two-and-a-half years ago.
The 80-year-old driver was treated for shock and then charged with dangerous driving, negligent driving and failing to give way at a pedestrian crossing.
He will appear in a Sydney court next month.
Sophie was flown to Sydney Children's Hospital yesterday with serious head, leg and chest injuries.
Doctors initially thought she may not survive but the outlook improved through the night.
Dr Michael Brydon says she will nonetheless have a difficult few weeks.
"It is likely, because of the extent of some of the injuries and particularly the chest, that she'll be in intensive care for a couple of weeks at least," he said.
He says her condition has been stabilised.
"She's got quite a few broken ribs, a very, very badly contused lung - a bruised lung - and one of her legs has a very serious fracture," Dr Brydon said.
"Sophie, thank God, isn't as badly injured as we first thought.
"She still is very unwell, she's got some serious injuries particularly to her chest and legs, however the head injury that we thought, which we thought was very serious, it doesn't appear to be as serious as we first thought."
Inconsolable
Her father was inconsolable when he spoke on radio yesterday afternoon.
"I can't believe ... how much can someone go through? Please tell us it's not true," he said.
Well-wishers have placed candles outside the hospital, which has been inundated with calls of concern.
Dr Brydon says while the family is very grateful for the support, people need to stop calling as the care of other patients is being compromised.
The driver of the car was yesterday taken to hospital and treated for shock.