An 8-year-old girl from the Elizabeth
G. Lyons
Elementary School in Randolph is an induced coma at the hospital
when a SUV struck her yesterday in the schoolyard.
Brittany Noel, from the second grade, was hit around 8:42
a.m. after all students arrived at the school.
She was hit by William Geisler, 86, driving a 2001 Ford
Escape, when he tried to park his vehicle as he came to the Vesey Road school
to vote for the primaries.
Brittany
was pinned to the wall and had her skull was fractured and she also had internal
injuries. She was admitted to Boston
Medical Center,
according to police and school officials.
Superintendent Richard Silverman said: "The last we
heard is that she's in the pediatric intensive care unit and in stable
condition. It was an unfortunate accident," Boston Globe informs.
According to Principal Leo A. Flanagan, almost 70 students witnessed
the scene and some even jumped out of the vehicles’ way.
Flanagan said that counselors arrived from the district to
talk to the children.
Police said that Geisler wanted to park the car when he lost
control of it and it went over the lawn, in front of the school.
Police are investigating the case.
Geisler said: “I backed up to get into a parking space. The
car just went into overdrive I guess, and I just shot forward and the brakes
didn’t hold. I couldn’t stop it,” Boston Herald reports.
“They threw a blanket over her and took her right out and
put her in the ambulance and that’s the last I saw of her. Of course, I was not
in any condition to see her anyways,” he added referring to the girl.
It is known that he has been cited in the past for speeding,
in 1987 in Norwood and in New Hampshire in 1995.
He was first taken to the Milton Hospital
and released later.
Ann Holleran, a social worker at the John
F. Kennedy
Elementary School in Randolph, one of
the counselors called at the Lyons
School said: “Children who
witnessed it were upset. They asked us questions like, 'Why do accidents
happen?' We told them that there's no rhyme or reason to it; sometimes
accidents just happen."