Garner crossing guard hit on the job relives terrifying moments after she was struck
GARNER, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Garner crossing guard struck by a car is out of the hospital after suffering life-changing injuries that will probably prevent her from returning to the job she's performed for seven years.
"It didn't even dawn on me. I got released at five minutes to four and that's when I was hit last week. It was five minutes to four," said Tammy Hawkins with tears in her eyes.
Hawkins said traffic in both directions had stopped last Thursday, and she had just stepped into the street to escort children waiting for her, when a white mini-van rear-ended a blue car which then struck her.
"I see a van coming, and he looked like he was going really fast, and he looked like he was not going to stop," Hawkins recalled.
The driver of the blue car, 62-year-old Kathryn Truelove, was taken to WakeMed Garner with minor injuries. The van's driver, 26-year-old Aaron Vincent, was visibly shaken, but did not suffer any injuries. Vincent was cited for failing to slow down.
"I thought I was under the car. All I could see was black," Hawkins told ABC11. "They actually said that I rode on top of the car for like 200 and something feet and I felt when I was dropped, but I didn't know I was dropped."
The 53-year-old suffered a broken ankle, torn knee joint, lacerated liver, and road burn. She still has 30 staples along her torso where she had to undergo emergency surgery at WakeMed Raleigh to remove her ruptured spleen. At one point, she thought she would never see her family or granddaughter again.
"I was trying to tell my daughter, 'take care of the grand baby,' and I was trying to say, 'I love y'all,' because I felt like I was really going to die," she said.
Many well wishes and prayers later, Hawkins is certain a guardian angel was watching over her that afternoon, but she is still angry at the driver who caused the wreck.
"I just wish I knew what he was doing at the time, and everybody just needs to pay attention," Hawkins said.
Hawkins, who had worked as a crossing guard for seven years, said the driver's actions were no different from what she's seen on the job before, except this time she got hit. She said the extent of her injuries will likely prevent her from working as a crossing guard again.
"Timber [Drive], I know I'll never be able to step out on Timber no more," she said.
