LINCOLN, Maine — A 6-year-old girl hit by a bus last week is now in stable condition, and investigators hope to interview her Wednesday to determine what caused the accident, Police Chief William Lawrence said.
“I heard just a little while ago that she is stabilized and doing well,” Lawrence said Monday after a conversation with the girl’s father. “It’s awesome, just great. I am happy for the kid and her family.”
RSU 67 bus driver Casey Voisine was dropping off Ella P. Burr Elementary School and Mattanawcook Junior High School students at Ariel and Clark streets at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday when first-grader Sophia Nelson of Lincoln was hit by a wheel of the bus or the undercarriage, police have said. Sophia had left the bus and came clear of it just before being struck.
Per standard procedure, school officials placed Voisine on administrative leave with pay Thursday and police administered an alcohol-content test on a blood sample of hers. Police don’t expect to see any malfeasance, Lawrence has said. They interviewed her immediately after the accident.
Lawrence and Detective David Cram, who is the accident’s lead investigator, came upon the accident minutes after it had occurred and Cram radioed Penobscot County Regional Communication Center dispatchers to send an ambulance, Lawrence said Monday.
The two had just left a meeting at a nearby health care facility and were on nearby Edwards Street when they saw a small body lying in the center of the road and the bus parked nearby.
“And I heard somebody screaming for help,” Lawrence said. “I said, ‘Let’s go see what that is.’”
Lawrence saw immediately that while Sophia was crying and talking at the scene, he could do little for her.
“I could tell by her condition that she could not be moved,” Lawrence said. “We just made sure she was stabilized.”
If the interview occurs Wednesday, police might complete the investigation by Friday, Lawrence said.
Great news! Get well soon Sophia. Thoughts are with you as well, Casey.
Please get well soon little girl, your what makes the world go around ;)
I agree. Awesome news. Hope Sophia continues to heal and gets stronger each day.
This young girls is one lucky person. Get well soon!
Good news indeed! Very happy she is doing better.
My heart goes out to Sophia and her family as well as the bus driver. Its always painful to hear of children getting hurt, but thank the lord that she is doing okay!
Such a relief to hear this news. I feel so badly for the bus driver- it certianly sounds (at least for now) like she wasn’t at fault. Years ago there was a similar incident with a Lincoln school bus. The child hit in that incident died. I had a family member who worked on the ambulance then and it was awful. I’m so glad to hear that Sophia is improving.
This is a horror every school bus driver dreads and worries about. None want this to ever happen on their watch. However, things do happen occasionally and we have to learn from them in order to prevent the same type of incident from happening again. Casey Voisine is in a position to teach all of us once she has recovered from this great trauma and Sophia will be able to teach young people as well. There is an area that surrounds the school bus known as the danger zone. All of us are engaged in teaching students and drivers how best to protect against mistakes in the danger zone, ten feet all the way around the school bus. That area is the most dangerous area. Drivers are taught to count the kids off the bus and count them away before moving. It sounds like Casey did this, but for some reason the child appears to have either returned to the danger zone or not completely cleared it before the bus resumed motion. I am extremely grateful that Sophia wasn’t hurt worse and that she seems to be improving. I am watching this story closely and it is my hope that all drivers and riders will pay more close attention to the space known as the danger zone.
Get well Sophia your class mates miss you!!!!
I’m sure many people in the state have been praying for Sophia. So glad to hear she is doing well.
This is great news!
get well soon sophia
I think an angel was watching over Sophia that day.