A three-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after being struck by a truck on Macrossan Street.

The girl was separated from her parents while they browsing in different shops on the Coles side of the busy Port Douglas street. A quick search failed to find the girl, who in the interim had crossed the road towards the Wicked ice creamery.

It’s believed the child has heard her name being called and ran between two parked 4WD vehicles onto the road before being struck by a large Pentach truck.

A holidaying doctor was one of the first to attend the scene and administered first aid. The child has escaped serious injury but was taken to Cairns hospital in an ambulance as a precaution. 

“This could very easily have been a tragedy,” said Sergeant Damien Meadows, OIC of Port Douglas Police.

“The driver saw the child and immediately applied the breaks, has skidded for just over a metre before hitting the child. It’s fortunate the driver was travelling around 20km to 30km below the speed limit, which has allowed him to pull up enough to save her.

“At this stage there doesn’t appear to be any significant injuries to the child.”

The male driver, in his 40s, was ‘shaken up’ by the incident.