The incident took place on Monday. (Representative pic)
A 12-year-old in the US was severely injured after her mother accidentally ran her over on her first day of school. According to People, the incident took place on Monday morning outside Boker Middle School in Florida. The mother, 30, was dropping her daughter off when she accidentally hit her. The child was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg with critical injuries, cops said.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the 12-year-old had dropped some markers and pens and bent down to pick them up from under the vehicle. Tragically, however, the mother did not realise what her daughter was doing and began to drive off, running over her. “She immediately stopped when she heard her child screaming,” FHP Trooper Kenn Watson said, per People.
A Sarasota County Schools spokesperson confirmed the accident, saying, “A parent accidentally hit their child as the parent was dropping the child off on the street”. “The school district encourages all families to follow district & school safety protocols and use the designated student pickup and drop off areas on school campuses,” they added.
Separately, Mr Watson said, “Here we are, day one, and we’ve already had a tragedy. We’re hoping this does not happen again, but we have to remember to have that good spatial awareness when you are anywhere around a school zone and most certainly when you are letting your kid out of your vehicle”.
“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 continued, adding, “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.”
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In a message to families, Booker Middle School principal LaShawn Frost said the crash “serves as a reminder of the importance of following our established safety procedures”.
“Please remember that students should not be dropped off in the middle of Myrtle Street,” the principal said. “This practice poses a significant risk to our students’ safety and the safety of others on the road,” he added.
On Tuesday, officials said that the child is in stable condition. “Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital has advised that the 12-year-old victim has been upgraded to ‘Stable’ as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time,” said Mr Watson.
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