Fundraiser planned for 11-year-old crash victim
Proceeds of Oct. 5 block party will go to girl’s family
Residents of a tight-knit Hamilton neighbourhood are organizing a fundraiser to support the family of an 11-year-old girl struck by a car last week.
The Grade 6 student at Bennetto Elementary School suffered life-altering injuries after a car rammed into her as she waited for a school bus at Emerald and Keith streets around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 10.
Hamilton police said the involved vehicle — a customer shuttle for an east-end car dealership — was travelling down Keith when it went through a stop sign, struck the child and crashed into a nearby garage, pinning her.
The driver, a man in his 60s, is alleged to have suffered a medical episode prior to the collision.
Police said Monday they continue to probe the crash. No other details were provided.
Left reeling from the incident, longtime resident Diana Jacobs said the north Hamilton neighbourhood is holding a fundraiser Oct. 5 — replete with food, facepainting and, if the city permits, bouncy castles — to support the girl.
“This crash really hit home for a lot of us because there’s so many kids in this area,” Jacobs said, adding all proceeds from the block party will go to the victim’s family. “This is a tight community and we look after each other.”
A member of the Junior Ticats Cheerleaders, residents described the 11-year-old as “the sweetest girl” and “always polite” last week.
“I know the surgeries went well and that she gave her mom a thumbs up and a smile,” said Jacobs, who didn’t want to share the victim’s current condition without consent from the family.
While the girl was alone at the bus stop, Jacobs said that if another two to three minutes passed before the crash, “there would’ve been at least seven or eight more kids standing there” — including her own grandson.
“My grandson had to take three days off school because he was literally sick to his stomach. That’s his friend, they’re in the same class,” Jacobs said.
The day of the collision, Barb Ramussen, whose boyfriend owns the garage the car struck, questioned why the bus stop is placed on a narrow sidewalk in front of a steep driveway.
“Why not at a corner, where there’s more space for the kids on the sidewalk?”
Jacobs said parents and caregivers have now directed kids to wait for the bus at the corner of Keith, instead of on the middle of Emerald.
“We didn’t ask for clearance or anything but people told their kids to go to (Keith) because it’s much safer. There’s more room for the kids to wait,” she said. “The bus has been coming there and there hasn’t been a problem yet.”
Jacobs said next month’s fundraiser will take place on the street near Keith and Emerald.