It happened around 11 last night at a home off O'Donnell and Rittenhouse.
According to police, the two-year-old was injured after her family had a get-together. The little girl was following her father across the street when a 19-year-old woman accidentally backed over her with a Volkswagen.
Police are viewing this as an unfortunate accident, and they say the driver didn't see the child behind her at all.
"All she was going to do was park the vehicle at a different location. As she's backing up, she feels that she struck something," said Sgt. Ignacio Izaguirre with the Houston Police Department.
The little girl suffered head injuries, and was rushed to Texas Children's Hospital where, at last check, she was listed in critical but stable condition. Her family is hoping her condition improves.
Dr. Christian Niedzwecki, associate medical director of the hospital's inpatient rehabilitation unit, says head and brain injuries to children can be tricky, and the road to recovery not always clear.
"In adults, it's very clear. Getting better from a traumatic brain injury is gauged on how fast you get back to work," Niedzwecki said. "In children, it's difficult to gauge that because what is a child's job? A child's job is going back to school; a child's job is learning, and that becomes the big issue: how do you get them back to that level?"
At this point, police do not anticipate filing criminal charges against the driver.
Find Simon on Facebook at ABC13SimonGutierrez or on Twitter at @sggutierrez
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