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LAYTON, Utah (KTVX/KUCW) – Newly released surveillance video shows dozens of students and bystanders rushing to help a Utah mother and her two young children after they were struck and pinned under a car on Tuesday afternoon.
Just before 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the Layton Christian Academy. Bridgette Ponson, who works at the school, was walking with her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter when a driver hit them, pinning them under the car.
Several students and bystanders immediately rushed to lift the car and free the family. Dominique Childress, an Air Force senior airman and bystander who helped, said Ponson, who used herself as a shield under the car, was the real hero.
“You hear it all the time: supermom, super abilities, and in that moment, that’s what it was,” Childress told Nexstar’s KTVX. “It was incredible to see her get off of her child as fast as she could so that he would be OK, and he is better because of that.”
The Layton City Police Department said the 2-year-old was seriously hurt and transported to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The mother and the 3-year-old were taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition. They are all expected to survive.
“If we would’ve acted any slower, I don’t know if we’d be in the same situation that we are right now,” Childress said.
Theophilus Roch, a Layton Christian Academy student, said it wasn’t easy, but he and the others didn’t hesitate.
“I just heard that people were in shock and they needed my help, so I rushed over, tried to figure out what was going on,” explained Roch. “Once we figured out what was going on, we just lifted the car. It was difficult. It felt like we were holding it for a long time.”
Chris Crowder, head of the school and Ponson’s boss, praised his students and said it’s a miracle the mother and her children are alive, saying “the 2-year-old had tire tracks across his back.”
Crowder hailed his students and the others who helped as heroes. “They came together in a split second, and seconds count,” he said.
Investigators said the driver stopped and cooperated with police. She was allegedly driving slowly through the parking lot at the time of the collision. Police said the sun in her eyes may have been a factor.
A GoFundMe with a goal of $35,000 was set up for the family to help cover medical experiences. As of Thursday morning, over $20,500 had been raised.
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