The family of a 12-year-old girl who officials say was hit by a car on her first day of school in Wisconsin believes her backpack helped save her life.
The Kaukauna Police Department said officers responded around 3:31 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Investigators determined the girl was struck by a car leaving a Kwik Trip parking lot while she was riding her electric scooter on the sidewalk.
Police said she was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The case is still under investigation.
In a GoFundMe set up by loved ones, the victim was identified as Skylynn Banick, who had just started seventh grade.
“According to her and her brother’s account, Skylynn thought the driver had stopped for her. As she crossed, she was hit and pulled under the car, dragged over 60 feet until bystanders flagged the driver down,” the organizers wrote. “Men at the scene lifted the vehicle to free her.”
“Her backpack saved her life. It became wedged between the tire and wheel well, preventing the car from pulling her completely under,” the post continued. “The driver, not realizing she had hit Skylynn, kept going until people rushed to stop her.”
The fundraiser says she suffered “severe road burns across her shoulders, back, ankles and feet,” along with swelling and pain in her legs and feet.
“With a loud thud and the feeling of the car just coming at me, I immediately knew I was run over,” Skylynn told WBAY.
“My brother and I were screaming. I was trying to kick the bottom of the car so they would hear me,” she added.
Her father, Matthew Banick, said he first learned about the crash in a text from her mother, according to the outlet.
“I was super, super angry, and then I walked into the [hospital] room, I started crying,” he said. “It’s hard to see and hear her talk about all these things that kids don’t come out of.”
In an update on the GoFundMe, the family said Skylynn is back home but still dealing with pain from her injuries, as well as nightmares and trouble sleeping.
“Skylynn is a bright, kind-hearted girl who always worries about others before herself. Now, she needs our community to rally around her,” her loved ones wrote.
