Quick thinking crossing guard saves child from being hit by a speeding car at last second
A Maryland crossing guard is being called a local hero for saving a child from being hit by a fast-moving vehicle.
A nearby school bus surveillance camera caught the shocking moment on video.
The footage shows Corporal Annette L. Goodyear from the Northeast Police Department on crossing guard duty around 7:30 a.m. on a Friday. She was wearing a bright orange jacket and a hat and could be seen holding up a hand to stop traffic as a middle-schooler approached the crosswalk.
Just as the student, named Violet, crosses the middle of the wet road, a speeding black sedan suddenly blows into the intersection. The quick-thinking police officer grabs the child by the shoulders and shoves her out of the car’s path, only to be struck by it herself.
Goodyear fell hard on the pavement after the front of the car hit her right side. The motorist immediately hits the brakes and exits her vehicle as other witnesses rush to her aid.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Violet said she asked the officer multiple times if she was okay. Goodyear asked her to “go get help. I need an ambulance.” Then, she ran away.
“It was strange. As I’m lying there I’m thinking to myself this actually did happen. I didn’t even know what to think about at that point,” she recalled. “It didn’t seem real as it was happening.”
In a tweet, Cecil County Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson announced that Goodyear was taken to a nearby hospital with minor, non-life-threatening injuries and was quickly discharged.
Thanks to her heroic efforts, Violet wasn’t injured.
“We’re just extremely proud of her actions,” said Corporal John Fakner of the North East Police Department. “It was a split-second reaction that saved a child from potential injury. A job well done.”
According to the town’s website, Goodyear has been with the department since 2008 and was its first female officer.
Goodyear said she’s never had something like this happen in her 14 years on the job. But when it came, her initial reaction was to move the student out of harm’s way.
“For me, I’m a parent as well, and it’s like I just want to make sure all these children are safe, and it didn’t matter if I was struck or not,” she said.
The crossing guard’s kindness didn’t end there. After leaving the hospital, she went back to school to make sure the girl was okay.
However, she was told that the child was too shaken up and went home with her family, so she decided to drop by.
“She came down the stairs saw me standing there and as she was walking toward the door she was getting teary-eyed, and you could see it and when she got teary-eyed, then her dad started getting teary-eyed, and we all started at that point,” Goodyear recalled. “I was just so thankful she was standing there and that she was okay.”
Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger said she is “incredibly grateful” for Goodyear’s efforts.
Hornberger said she had already spoken with North East Mayor Michael Kline, and the town is currently working on commendations for Goodyear’s life-saving actions.
The driver was cited for negligent driving, driving with an expired registration plate, failure to stop at a yield sign before entering a crosswalk, and failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
When asked by GMA’s Will Reeve about what Goodyear was like, the girl said: “She’s really nice, and she’ll talk to every student that walks by even if you don’t start the conversation.”
Kudos to Corporal Goodyear for this heroic deed! Check out the video below for more on this story.
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