A Philadelphia schoolgirl walked away with only minor scratches after a Mack truck ran over her and trapped her underneath the vehicle on Friday afternoon, according to multiple witnesses who rushed to her aid and likely saved her life.
Caught On Camera
Surveillance footage captured the harrowing moment when the young student, wearing a backpack and looking down at her phone, crossed the street in front of a stopped Mack truck. Seconds later, the truck lurched forward, pushing the distracted girl before she fell to the pavement and disappeared beneath the massive vehicle. The incident occurred around school dismissal time near Ivonne Jewelry in Philadelphia.
Bladimir, an employee at the jewelry store, spotted the danger immediately and sprang into action. He waved his arms frantically and ran toward the truck to signal the driver to stop. After the vehicle halted, he rushed to check on the trapped girl. She told him she felt fine and that only her hair had been caught under the truck.
Driver Unaware Of Impact
The truck driver apparently had no idea he had struck the pedestrian. When Bladimir reached the cab, he urgently warned the operator not to move. The driver appeared shocked to learn a girl was trapped beneath his vehicle. Bladimir believes the driver never saw the student before the truck started moving forward.
Ivonne Roson, owner of Ivonne Jewelry, witnessed the entire sequence of events. Her employees happened to be outside at that exact moment, which was unusual for them during the day. Roson described watching the girl cross the street while focused on her phone, completely unaware of the truck beginning to move. The witnesses stayed with the girl after she was freed, checking on her repeatedly before walking her home.
Investigation Continues
Philadelphia police responded to emergency calls about the incident, but all parties had already left the scene before officers arrived. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash. Witnesses noted the girl was not using a designated crosswalk at the corner, instead crossing mid-block. Despite the traumatic experience of being run over by a commercial truck, the student never released her grip on her phone throughout the ordeal, according to people who helped her. The combination of quick-thinking bystanders and what witnesses called extraordinary luck prevented what could have been a fatal accident in broad daylight on a busy Philadelphia street.
wow, that girls got some Angels on her side! Thank God she’s ok.
Again, texting and yakking on a cell can get a person either injured or in serious trouble by not paying attention to their surroundings. Just ask the 22-year old woman who rammed into the back of my loaded flatbed when I was going up that long grade on I-70 just west of Denver back in 2018. Per witnesses, the woman had her head down texting while driving and was going approximately 80 MPH. She did not look up to see my truck in the far right lane in that three-lane section of I-70 with the hazard lights on. Per the witnesses, the woman did not attempt to swerve and even touch the brakes on her car. If it had not been for the Mansfield Bar and the airbags on her car, it would have been a fatality. I learned later on that the woman was so injured that the accident left her in a wheelchair for life. All that because of texting while driving. Drivers simply cannot understand to pull onto the shoulder or stop at an exit to text and yak on the cell. As for getting run over, everytime I stop at a rest area, truckstop, or a large parking area, etc, I always check under my truck and flatbed to make sure that no person or living creature in underneath it while I do my walk-around checking the brakes, lights, load security and such before I take off on the highways