A 12-year-old girl was accidentally run over by her mother during the first day of school drop-off near Booker Middle School in Sarasota, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
At about 7:45 a.m., the mother dropped off the girl in the right turn lane in front of the school, FHP Trooper Kenn Watson explained.
The girl dropped her backpack, and some of her stuff rolled under her mother's large SUV. She got on her hands and knees and crawled under the Lincoln Navigator to get her stuff when her mother, unaware, began to pull away.
“She immediately stopped when she heard her child screaming," Watson said.
The 12-year-old was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg in critical condition. She was upgraded to stable condition Tuesday afternoon.
“Here we are, day one, and we’ve already had a tragedy," Watson said. "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.”
A message from the school's principal, Lashawn Frost, was sent to parents at the school, letting them know there had been an accident just outside the school but not going into any details.
"This serves as a reminder of the importance of following our established safety procedures," Frost said. "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. We kindly ask that all parents and guardians follow the designated drop-off procedures by using the parent loop. This ensures that students enter the school safely and helps us maintain a secure environment for everyone."
The school had counselors available for any students needing help dealing with what happened.
Watson also stressed the importance of pulling into schools' drop areas when leaving their children.
“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.”
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