Photos by Melissa Brown
Photo by Melissa Brown.
This morning in Savannah, a red pick up truck on the corner of MLK Boulevard and Zubley Street struck a woman pushing a child in a stroller.
“The mom and child were transported with complaint of injury that was not considered life threatening,” said Julian Miller, police spokesman . “Metro Downtown Precinct patrol officers were investigating.”
Initially, 5-10 witnesses surrounded the accident. SCAD Professor Dillon McDaniel was seen helping the child from under the car.
“I saw him holding the baby in his arms and still comforting the woman and just being an all around ‘presence’ of calm and order to the situation,” said Photography Graduate Student Melissa Spitz from St. Louis, Missouri. “I saw the car hit the woman and then her sitting on the ground. Dillon came out immediately and started calming the woman by rubbing her back.”
Photo by Melissa Brown.
An unidentified SCAD student arrived at the scene before Professor McDaniel and immediately began directing traffic to keep the area clear, preventing further accidents from occurring.
McDaniel had minimal first aid training—including CPR—that allowed him to assure the woman and child’s injuries were nonfatal.
“My office is in Bergen Hall and I heard someone scream, so I got up, I saw one of my students stopping cars and I ran downstairs. I ran outside to see what was going on, and a woman in the street was screaming,” said McDaniel. “I went to check on the child and I made sure her eyes weren’t dilated and that she could move her toes and fingers.”
The one-year-old child and her aunt live behind Bergen Hall in Yamacraw Village. The child was in the stroller when the truck hit her and her aunt.
Photo by Melissa Brown.
“She suffered from road rash on her left elbow because the truck and street were very hot. Fortunately, she went completely under the truck between the front wheels, so yes it was very, very fortunate,” said McDaniel.
When Spitz had entered the scene of the incident, the police had already been notified.
“That intersection needs help! The issue is that the turn lane and walk sign happen at the same time and people driving have horrible attitudes,” said Spitz. “Savannah needs to install cameras at those lights to monitor these situations or build a skywalk for students and people living in Yamacraw Village to safely get across the street.”
