Summer is winding down, and in some parts of the country, kids are heading back to school.
Unfortunately, the school year got off to a horrific start for one student at Booker Middle School in Sarasota, Florida after she was accidentally run over by an SUV in front of the school.
The unidentified 12-year-old’s mother dropped her off in the right turn lane in front of the child’s school around 7:45 a.m. When the girl exited the vehicle, she dropped her backpack and some of her belongings rolled underneath the SUV.
The student bent down to retrieve her items, when all of a sudden, her mother, unaware of her daughter’s whereabouts began driving away.
“She immediately stopped when she heard her child screaming,” FHP Trooper Kenn Watson said.
The student was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg in critical condition. As of Monday evening she remained in critical condition.
“Florida Highway Patrol wants to reiterate how incredibly important it is to make sure that you see your child, not only exit the vehicle, but then get out of the path of the vehicle and not make any type of assumption. Here we are day one and we’ve already had a tragedy,” Watson said.
The trooper also urged parents to drop their children off in the designated drop-off areas.
“You want to avoid being in a hurry and dropping off our kids in the turn lane when we should be directly in front of the school,” he said. “This is a tragedy that one hundred percent could have been avoided by simply paying a little more attention and not being in a hurry.”
Oh my gosh. This tragedy could absolutely have been avoided. My heart breaks for the girl and her family. I hope she is able to make a full recovery.
