Young boy seriously injured by kids' prank

A nine-year-old boy has suffered serious neck injuries after riding into a rope set up as a prank by other children in South Australia.

Stuart Heath was riding his bike around Port Lincoln's Centenary Oval yesterday when three kids told him to speed up.

Ahead, a rope was tied across the path and when it hit Stuart's neck he was flung from his bike.

"He said that he thought he was going to die," his mother Katherine Price said.

"He couldn't breathe at the time.

"The rope could have really got caught and it could have lead to something a lot worse."

Stuart was taken to hospital for his injuries.

"When he was caught in the rope the children didn't come and help they just sort of ran off," Ms Price said.

Ms Price has now launched an appeal on Facebook to find the children responsible and plans to report the prank to police.