A 12-year-old girl was involved in a heartbreaking incident near Booker Middle School in Sarasota on Monday, as reported by the Florida Highway Patrol.
A middle school student stepped out of the car parked in the drop-off line on Myrtle Street, right in front of the school, accidentally dropping their school supplies onto the ground.
Tragically, the young girl went unnoticed by her mother as she crawled under the car. Unaware of her daughter’s presence, the mother unknowingly pulled forward, resulting in a devastating accident.
“I honestly was just wiping tears,” said Myra Moore, who was driving her kids to school when she saw the aftermath of the incident. “Because I said, I cannot imagine what should be a happy day, a joyous day, just turned into tragedy so quickly.”
“Here we are, day one. We have already had a tragedy,” FHP spokesperson Kenneth Watson said. “We are hoping that this does not happen again, but we have to remember to have that good spatial orientation when you are anywhere around the school zone and most certainly when you are letting your kids out of your vehicle.”
Airlifted to All Children’s Hospital, the girl remains in critical condition as per a local news outlet.
“This is an incident where it was not the speed of the vehicle that caused the injury. It was simply someone being in a rush and making an assumption,” Watson said. “Hopefully this child will be able to survive this incident.”