Crossing guard helping student saw speeding car barrel toward for them—his split-second move saved the child
Some people choose to protect other people, even if that means putting their own lives in danger. A crossing guard at a school also helped a student in such a way when they were close to being hit by a car while crossing a road. The guard, Corporal Annette Goodyear, worked at North East Middle School back in 2022 when the incident happened. Goodyear was helping the girl when the car headed straight for them and didn't slow down till the very end, per Fox 5 News. The woman's quick decision helped save the girl's life.
Goodyear noticed a speeding car while helping the girl and immediately pushed her out of the way. The car was not stopping and only came to a halt after it had hit the crossing guard. "It was strange. As I’m lying there, I’m thinking to myself, this actually did happen. I didn’t even know what to think about at that point. It didn’t seem real as it was happening," Goodyear remarked. "For me, I’m a parent as well and it’s like I just want to make sure all these children are safe and it didn’t matter if I was struck or not." The girl was safe because of the woman's action. At the same time, the crossing guard was taken to the hospital and treated for the minor injuries that she had suffered.
The moment Goodyear woke up, she left everyone surprised with her first concern. She immediately wanted to know how the student she had pushed out of the way was doing. People reassured her that the girl was fine. But still, when the crossing guard got out of the hospital, the first thing that she did was to visit the girl's house to check on her. "She came down the stairs, saw me standing there and as she was walking toward the door, she was getting teary-eyed and you could see it and when she got teary-eyed, then her dad started getting teary-eyed and we all started at that point. I was just so thankful she was standing there and that she was ok," Goodyear continued.
The woman was informed that the girl went home after the incident that day, as the scene was quite scary for her. The corporal's act received a lot of praise from the authorities. "It was an amazing act of heroism. Truly, that is what we envision of to protect and serve. That’s what we want in our community, and it’s just humbling; it's breathtaking; it’s amazing and we’re just so proud to have Corporal Goodyear in our community," County Executive Danielle Hornberger pointed out.
Hornberger told CBS News that the town hoped to reward Goodyear for her courage and quick action in the face of danger. The driver and other passersby had attended to Goodyear after she was hit by the car. "We're just extremely proud of her actions. It was a split-second reaction that saved a child from potential injury. A job well done," Corporal John Fakner from the North East Police Department expressed. The driver received four citations after the accident for not stopping at a yield sign before entering a crosswalk, not stopping for a pedestrian at a crosswalk, negligent driving and for an expired registration plate.