LINCOLN, Maine — A 6-year-old girl hit by an RSU 67 school bus suffered a broken femur, four compression fractures in her skull and one in her neck, her mother told police Thursday.
Ella P. Burr School first-grader Sophia Nelson of Lincoln was listed in serious condition Thursday morning at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as police continued to assemble their account of the accident at Clark and Ariel streets Wednesday. Asked about the girl’s condition Thursday evening, a nursing supervisor had no comment.
“Obviously our thoughts and prayers are out to Sophia and her family and for the bus driver and her family,” Police Chief William Lawrence said Thursday. “We are very concerned for the bus driver as well. She was in extreme, extreme shock after this event.”
The accident “is a tragedy of the two families involved here,” Lawrence added.
Per standard procedure, bus driver Casey Voisine was placed on administrative leave with pay Thursday pending the outcome of the investigation, RSU 67 Superintendent Denise Hamlin said. School crisis workers were at Burr and Mattanawcook Junior High School helping students and staff cope with the accident.
“I think that so far the counselors have seen between 25 to 30 students. Anytime this happens to a classmate, it is a difficult situation, especially for young children,” Hamlin said. “We do a significant level of bus safety training at the classroom and the classroom teachers will be revisiting all of that, but for us currently it is about crisis management and ensuring that students and staff have the services they need.”
Voisine was dropping off Burr and junior high students when the accident occurred about 2:45 p.m. Police suspect that Sophia had left the bus and came clear of it just before being struck, possibly by a wheel or the bus’s undercarriage.
“We are getting a great deal of information from people and we don’t have a clear picture of what has transpired yet,” Lawrence said Thursday. “It is still quite an undertaking trying to figure out exactly how this happened.”
A LifeFlight helicopter flew Sophia from Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln to the Bangor hospital. Lawrence said that she was “responsive, awake and talking at the scene.”
A review of Voisine’s safety record showed no previous problems, Hamlin said.
“I’d say that she is a very cautious driver,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin will be sending home with pupils on Thursday a letter to parents outlining bus safety procedures. The letter encourages parents to review the procedures with their children, Hamlin said.
Inspectors with the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division examined the bus on Wednesday and found no mechanical faults that could have contributed to the accident, Lawrence said.
The intersection of Clark and Ariel streets sits atop a short but steep hill and adjoins Taylor Street Extension and High Street south of Mattanawcook Lake.
Lawrence asked anyone with information about the accident to call Detective David Cram at 794-8455.
Such an unfortunate incident that happened unexpectedly and unintentionally, I feel so sad for both families. May the sweet little girl heal and the bus driver too. The whole town of Lincoln is praying for everyone involved.
Very sad…awfull…but could you please make clearer the statement of the police…”
Police suspect that Sophia had left the bus and came clear of it just prior to being struck” how do you come clear of a vehicle and then get struck? I hope she has a full recovery.. miracles do happen..hopefully there will be one for little Sophia. Prayers to the family and to the driver.
Thats the issue. The child was clear. I am thinking she either turned and went back or slipped. The bus only moved because the child was clear.
Legally CLEAR of the bus means safely on the sidewalk on the opposing side of the street. Not oh yea I saw her walk in front of the bus… enough said.
Are you a bus driver yourself or are familiar with the rules and laws of bus driver safety to know this or are you making an assumption based on what you think “legally clear” means? Either way – this can not be easy on any one involved – I can only imagine the physical pain the little girl is in as well as the emotional/psychological pain the bus driver is in.
Not every child has to cross the street to get to their house.
My heart goes out to these 2 families. I have been saying for years since I moved to Maine 6 years ago as to why these bus drivers do not have bus monitors who physically get on and off the bus to make sure incidents like this do not happen. Bus’s have blind spots like any vehicle and you can’t always see everything. These towns need to do something because this should not of happened. Makes me scared when my child starts school in a couple years.
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Accidents are just that, ACCIDENTS! The school has taken every precaution to ensure these types of things don’t happen but yet circumstances beyond anyone’s control occur thus creating an ACCIDENT. Furthermore, all of the facts have not come out as to how the little girl came to be “under” the bus. I put that in quotes because again the facts are not clear. The article even states that investigators are working diligently to determine what and how this happened but have not come to a conclusion.
This mindset is exactly why crashes will continue to occur — because we think what happened was unforeseen and unavoidable.
Cosmic forces didn’t cause this crash. No matter what the cause, it was avoidable. Let’s learn from the investigation to find out what we can do to prevent a similar crash.
Well said. I know that personally I found this incident to be eye opening and took extra time to talk to my children about safety around busses and other vehicles that have low visibility. Though my younger children no longer ride the bus in the morning there are times that they ride the bus for field trips and they are around busses and vehicles in parking lots and when walking on the side of our road that doesn’t have side walks.
Ryanrobbins, as you stated we need to learn from this investigation and as to cosmic forces that certainly was not what I was implying. How do you know this was an avoidable accident??? No one knows the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident. We don’t know how this child came to be beneath the bus and anyone who believes it’s because the bus driver wasn’t good at her job or wasn’t paying attention is speculating…we need to wait until the facts are released from investigators before making a up our minds that the bus driver was inadequate at her job.
Absent cosmic forces throwing the girl under the bus, it was indeed avoidable.
If she slipped on the ice and fell under the bus, that would have been avoidable: (1) The girl walked too close to the bus (2) The driver failed to spot the girl a safe distance away before driving.
If the bus slipped on the ice, that would have been avoidable, too: (1) The bus should not have been stopped on ice (2) the road may not have been adequately cleared on ice or snow (3) the girl was too close to the bus (3) the bus driver may not have confirmed the bus was stopped safely.
If the bus’s brakes failed, that would have been avoidable: A mechanic should have inspected the bus, (2) the driver should have inspected the bus.
These crashes just don’t happen. They have a cause. Most of the time, it’s human error, even if that human error was having a false sense of security from believing that the odds of something like this happening were remote.
You can have all the safety equipment in the world, mirrors everywhere.
But if that kid decides to chase a blowing paper after you have checked that side of the bus twice already before you move it is darn close to a cosmic event……
I live in Lincoln, our buses are well maintained by an excellent mechanic in our own bus facility, no junk here.
Our drivers are the best, Casey is an excellent, safe driver with children of her own.
IMHO the kid lost ahold of something and went after it. The wind was screaming of off the lake that day.
Please teach your children to never approach a moving anything and to be aware that vehicles have blind spots no matter what the size.
My prayers for both families…
To put your little mind at ease, it is a law that the bus receives an inspection from a state police after an accident like this. It past with FLYING COLORS and RSU 67 was told to put the bus back on the road. It also is 1 of the schools older busses, so imagine how the newer ones are?
My thoughts go out to this little girl and her family, and the bus driver and her family, such a horrible accident, i wonder if little Sophia had slipped on that snow and ice they are stood on in this picture, and slid under the bus as it was moving away?……. whatever the scenario, its still a horrible, horrible accident, and hope all recover mentally and physically from it!
Poor baby, may you heal quickly.
I hope she pulls through.
Go Trooper Anderson! It must be tough to get around on the snow with just one leg.
Precious Sophie is my niece & what is needed from everyone right now is LOTS of Prayers & Well wishes for EVERYONE involved… We need not to pass judgment & make speculations on what happened… Just hope that there is a positive outcome & PRAY Hard That she makes a FULL & SPEEDY Recovery. Please continue supporting the families & just hope that this tragic accident brings the changes needed so that this type of thing NEVER happens Again!!! Thanks.
All of you in our thoughts & prayers. My husband is a school bus driver, I know he’d be devastated if in this situation.
I keep thinking the same thing about the bus drivers I know Dilska – any of them would be devastated if something like this happened on their route. They certainly do not drive buses to get rich – it takes some one with a lot of patience not to mention at least some caring of children to make sure they get to and from school safely.
Thinking of both families and for a speedy recovery for little Sophia!!
Please let this little girl have a full recovery lord, she is in my prayers and thoughts!
this is horrific , My prayers go out to the little girl for a full recovery and to the bus driver whom I’m sure is horrified.. My dad was a bus driver and my daughter is 6, I could not imagine what these families are going through right now….
more prayers for everyone concerned…<3 <3
prayer are here and it happen so let it go and get on prays for her recovery maybe cards would be nice
God Bless you Sophie..Get well soon sweetheart
I think a few volunteer crossing guards might help this situation in the future.
Not that this will solve every safety issue at every multiple student stop. It will however bring visibility to the drivers, and may be a verbal caution to young children if they attempt crossing at an inapropriate time .
Who would want to be a volunteer in todays world to be sued when an accident happens. I retired last year and was gonna do that in my spare time and decided against it when there was no legal documents that would release me from an liability. But this is Washington County…
Hopefully this incident does not have a lasting emotional scar on this poor child. Sometimes those are the worst scars to heal ! Same thing happened to my nieces daughter , the emotional damage took longer to heal . May god be with this child and everyone close by !
makes me understand more why my local school district wont let children under grade three off the bus without a parent or guardian or atleast someone above grade 3 present. prayers for a full and speedy recovery for this little girl. thoughts are with her family and friends and also with those of the driver.
I commend all of you people that show support of the bus driver also, i can tell you from driving over one million miles , in some of the worst conditions that no commercial driver especially a bus driver ever wants to cause harm to anybody , especially a child ! Its not always black and white, busses , 18 wheelers and heavy equipment are some of the blindest vehicles to drive in good conditions let alone winter conditions , I know that to be a fact , i operate all these vehicles ! God bless both !
I pray she makes a speedy recovery and doesn’t have any ongoing consequences from this accident. At six years old she will hopefully bonce back quickly.
I can’t imagine the sadness and hopelessness that the driver feels. This is a tragic accident and I hope the little girl comes out of this fine. I also hope that the driver gets whatever help she needs to help her deal with this.
As a bus driver , i know after reading this update this morning before my morning route, when kids got on & off today i double checked my double checks. Such an unfortuante accident. Thoughts go to the little girl, her family, and Driver.
Prayers with Sophie and the driver.
PS…superintendent Hamlin was quoted as saying “currently it is about crisis management and ensuring that students and staff have the services they need” but apparently she wasn’t too concerned because she never made an appearance at the scene of the accident or at the hospital. Good thing the “unidentified lady” in that picture cared enough to show up.
My thoughts and prayers are with both families. I drive a commercial vehicle and can’t imagine how badly this driver feels. I hope Sophie has a speedy recovery…
a couple of comments on here kinda hint toward the accident being the bus driver’s fault, well I know Casey and that’s far from being the truth. An accident happened like this around 1972 almost on the same street to a teacher’s child, the bus driver was never the same, had a break down and was never able to return to the job….look at what a driver has to put up with, they are driving a bus which is the size of a single wide trailer and kids running around and traffic here and there. It’s a job that I crossed off my list of things I would like to do in my life long ago. I’m gonna pray, and pray hard that the little girl gets a speedy recovery and also Casey can pick up the pieces of her life also…Get well both girls….
Wondering if the measurements were taken the day of the accident or afterwards. If afterwards, then the scene is compromised and will not give a true and acurate account of what actually happened and can only rely on the witnesses. Be strong little one….
My children go to Ella P Burr School and I completely trust their bus driver. He has always done a wonderful job with the kids. So please don’t just knock the bus drivers. We don’t know what happened. I hope little Sophie recovers soon. Sending out our prayer.
In my Jeep Grand Cherokee, i have a camera that beeps like crazy if i am about to hit something. Couldnt busses be outfitted with the same thing for the front and the back of the bus? This happens far to often to our children. Something needs to be done now.
My heart goes out to this little girl’s family. We all imagine what we’d feel like if this were our little girl going through these horrendous injuries. Just heartbreaking…
Why post the same story as yesterday with no new news????
My prayers go out to this little girl and her family and the Bus driver as well , it is heart breaking.