Some students and parents at a St. Vital school said they have not been offered enough resources to help them cope after witnessing a collision that sent two of their classmates to hospital Tuesday afternoon.
The two girls suffered life-threatening injuries when they were struck by a mini-van near the busy intersection of St. Anne's Road and Bishop Grandin Boulevard.
According to witnesses, two girls in Grade 7 were walking across the street around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were hit.
“It was our turn to walk and then the light changed to yellow when they were crossing and then they got hit by a car,” classmate Oceana Cunday told CTV News.
“Me and the other girl that was there, we were freaking out a bit. So after that we stopped the traffic and went over to them.”
Police closed sections of St. Anne’s and Bishop Grandin for several hours to investigate.
Tuesday evening, the condition of one of the girls was upgraded.
Cunday said the injured girls attend Victor Mager School with her. They were crossing the street to get to their shop class at Victor H. L. Wyatt School. Cunday’s mother says the class is scheduled once a week and the students walk there without a chaperone.
“If they could have even have someone there just for one day for help crossing, maybe this will be a wake-up call,” said Joanne Cunday.
The Louis Riel School Division provided counselling for students. Oceana Cunday used the services on Tuesday, but still felt shaken up hours later.
“They provided guidance for the time being but after school there wasn’t really much at all,” she said.
Her mother agrees.
“There was no after care, and I found that really hard to deal with because I wasn’t sure what to say to Oceana or who I should contact,” said Joanne Cunday.
Duane Brothers, superintendent of the Louis Riel School Division, released a statement Tuesday afternoon that read, “these students are well known by their peers and staff at their school and we will continue to have members of the Clinical Student Services Team in the school to support students and staff during this challenging time….our hearts and our prayers are with these students and their families.”
