Shania Hutton may be absent from school, but she has certainly not been forgotten by her St Clair School classmates.
The 10-year-old has not been at school since she was struck by a car on Riselaw Rd, Calton Hill, late last year, putting her in Dunedin Hospital with serious head and lung injuries.
In a bid to make Shania "not feel forgotten" and to show they still care, her year 5 and year 6 friends and classmates made a patchwork quilt to help with her rehabilitation.
Each pupil contributed by making two or three patches, which were sown together by parent Camilla Cox. On the back of the quilt is a patch inscribed: "Made with love for Shania.
"From your friends, classmates and teachers at St Clair School. May 2012."
Shania and her mother Jane Hutton have been at the Wilson Centre, in Auckland, since March, where Shania has been assessed and is having physical and speech therapy.
The quilt has been sent there.
Mrs Hutton said her daughter's recovery had surged ahead since she had been to Starship Hospital, in Auckland, to have two bone flaps replaced in her skull.
The bone flaps were removed after the accident to allow her brain to swell.
She is now able to sit unaided, eat proper meals, walk using a frame and is "chattering away" having conversations with medical staff and family.
"This has all started happening in the last week," Mrs Hutton said. "She's slowly returning to the girl we used to know."
Mrs Hutton hoped they would be able to return to Dunedin at the end of the month.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, of Dunedin, said it was hoped the driver of the car would be charged within a fortnight.
