A Jewish mother has appealed for help in tracking down a driver who left her daughter in a critical condition after a hit and run incident. 

Samantha Harris, 24, was left with a ruptured spleen after being struck at speed by a car while crossing the road in Hornsey, north London, last Friday night.

Other drivers on the road did not stop to help her, and despite her severe injuries she eventually managed to walk to a nearby hostel, where the emergency services were called.

Her mother Lysa, said she was “still in shock” at what had happened to her daughter and described that fact that she had escaped even more serious injuries as “a Rosh Hashanah miracle”.

Ms Harris said her daughter had been in “excruciating pain”.

“I went down to the operating theatre with her and spoke to the surgeons as well, and then I was outside the theatre and just praying.

 “Before she went into surgery she was in agon. They had to put four coils in her spleen. When she came out [of surgery] she was even worse, she was weeping, she couldn’t talk because of how much it hurt, and it was hurting in every single part of her body, from both impacts… she got hit by the car and then she hit the road.”

Ms Harris told the JC on Tuesday afternoon that Samantha had been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal London hospital.

“I’ve got to admit, I’ve got my Rosh Hashanah miracle, because she didn’t have any head injuries, there’s no spinal injuries or breaks. It’s all internal,” she said.

“But she’s an insulin-dependent diabetic, it’s going to take her a lot longer to heal.”

Ms Harris said she had done “everything I can think of” in an effort to find the hit and run driver, who she described as a black male “driving a black car.

“Cycling groups are asking people to come forward if they saw anything, because a lot of cyclists wear head-cams now… local [repair] garages where the vehicle could be taken to have been asked to come forward [and contact the police].  I’m even asking [petrol] garage attendants to come forward, if he goes to fill up his car and there’s a dent in his bonnet.

“I’ve got faith that she is going to be OK. My faith is so strong for her. But we need to find this driver, and people need to go out of their way and see if somebody is ok. Don’t just leave them in the road. I’m so upset – she’s my baby.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "Police were called by the London Ambulance Service to reports of a road traffic collision.

"Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found an injured female pedestrian who had been in a collision with a car.

"The pedestrian, aged in her 20s, was taken to a north London hospital in a critical condition and later transferred to the intensive care unit at an east London hospital. Her injuries are no longer being treated as life-threatening.

"The driver of the car did not stop at the scene. The vehicle is believed to be black in colour.

"It is understood the collision took place at about 18:45hrs.

"Detectives from the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are appealing for witnesses to the collision to come forward.

"No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or tweet @MetCC.

Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org