NORTH TONAWANDA: Boy hit by car escapes alive

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LUCKY BREAK: Bystanders look on as paramedics help a 4-year-old boy, who was hit by a car Friday on River Road. The impact knocked the boy to the pavement and he rolled under the car but survived the ordeal.

July 3, 2009

BY DAN PYE The Niagara Gazette Fri Jul 03, 2009, 10:53 PM EDT

NORTH TONAWANDA — A 4-year-old boy was struck by a car Friday afternoon on River Road but miraculously survived without severe injuries.

The boy was walking across River Road at 3:36 p.m. with his mother and a younger sibling in a stroller when a car turning left onto River from Wheatfield Street accelerated into the family, said Jason Elmore, a witness.

“It looked like (the driver) didn’t even seen them,” Elmore said.

Initially, it was thought the boy was also in the stroller, but North Tonawanda police said he was not.

The boy was knocked to the pavement on impact and his head hit the car’s license plate on the front bumper. But Elmore, sitting behind the car waiting to turn, said he didn’t see the car go up and down as if it had rolled over something, so he was fairly certain the boy fell between the car’s tires.

Kathy Muehlbauer, who was sitting at the light northbound on River Road and saw the accident, said she immediately put her car into park and ran to see if she could provide help, fearing the worst.

“It was just a horrid sight, especially if you have kids of your own,” she said.

When Muehlbauer got to the scene, the boy’s mother was already moving him to the curb. North Tonawanda Fire Department paramedics responded and placed the boy’s neck in a brace before transporting him to Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo.

A spokesperson at the hospital could not release additional information.

Police had not released information pertaining to the child’s condition, the driver’s name or possible charges.

Contact reporter Daniel Pye

at 693-1000, ext. 158.

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