On the first day of school in Sarasota, Florida, a 12-year-old girl was critically injured after being accidentally run over by her mother during morning drop-off.
The incident occurred outside Booker Middle School on Monday morning, August 12, 2024, as students were returning to class after the summer break.
The girl, a middle school student, had just exited her mother’s vehicle around 7:54 a.m. in the right turn lane on Myrtle Street when she dropped her backpack and several school supplies. In an attempt to retrieve her belongings, the girl crawled under the family’s Lincoln Navigator SUV. Tragically, her mother, unaware that her daughter was under the vehicle, drove forward, resulting in the child being struck by the car’s wheels.
Witnesses described the scene as harrowing. A parent who was driving her own children to school said the young girl was in obvious distress.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) responded to the scene. Trooper Kenneth Watson, speaking to WTFS, explained that the situation was the result of a simple but costly oversight. “This is an incident where it wasn’t the speed of the vehicle that caused the injury, it was simply someone being in a rush and making an assumption,” Watson said.
Immediately following the accident, the injured girl was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where she was listed in critical condition. The latest reports indicate that she has undergone surgery and is now responsive and in stable condition.
The aftermath of the incident was captured on video by bystanders, showing a crowd forming around the injured student as an employee of the school tried to manage the growing traffic congestion. Despite the quick response from emergency services, the emotional impact on those who witnessed the scene was profound.
Principal Lashawn Frost of Booker Middle School sent a message to the school community shortly after the accident. “This serves as a reminder of the importance of following our established safety procedures,” Frost wrote. “Please remember that students should not be dropped off in the middle of Myrtle Street. This practice poses a significant risk to our students’ safety and the safety of others on the road.”
Principal Frost also stressed the importance of using the designated parent loop for drop-offs, as this area is specifically designed to ensure student safety.
Trooper Watson, reflecting on the incident, pointed out that such accidents, while rare, can be easily avoided with more attention to detail. “Here we are, day one, and we’ve already had a tragedy,” Watson said.