A 4-year-old boy was flown to a hospital early Sunday morning after being hit by a car in Florence, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to Weaver Road overpass near Interstate 75 around 1 a.m. for a crash involving a pedestrian. They found that a 50-year-old woman driving west on Weaver Road slowed down to 30 mph after seeing another vehicle flashing headlights at her in the eastbound lane. This was on a stretch where the speed limit is normally 50 mph.
The driver in the eastbound lane saw the young boy standing unsupervised at the edge of the road. They turned around to try to help the child, who is autistic and doesn’t speak. Unfortunately, the child walked onto the road from the shoulder and was hit by the westbound driver.
Deputies performed life-saving measures at the scene before the child was airlifted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. His current condition is unknown.
The woman who hit the child stayed at the scene. Deputies determined that speed, alcohol, and drugs were not factors in the crash. The area where it happened is dark at night, which may have made it hard for the woman to see the boy.
Joshua Altman, another driver on Weaver Road, saw the flashing lights and used his Navy medical training to help the boy after the crash. He tried to keep the child awake and comforted him as best he could.
The boy had left his family’s apartment on Mission Lane nearby while they were sleeping. The apartment complex is about a 10-minute walk from where the crash happened.
No charges have been filed, and the investigation is ongoing with cooperation from the child’s family and the woman involved.