Two young girls are recovering at home days after they were hit by a SUV as they crossed a street with their mother nearby in Peabody, Massachusetts.
The crash happened Friday afternoon on Lynn Street, authorities said.
"I remember screaming at her, 'What the hell are you doing?' and I just went into work mode," Laura Andree said Monday.
Andree is an emergency room nurse trained in pediatrics and trauma.
"I just saw my daughter crumbled up on the ground and just started doing pediatric life support protocols on her and going through it in my head," Andree said.
Andree said her daughters, 8 and 5, were rushed to the hospital and are now back home. The older girl has a broken femur and a fracture in her cheek. Her youngest daughter suffered a concussion.
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"I am an emergency room nurse and I am trained in pediatrics, and trauma, but using those skills on your own children, it is just, it is never going to be OK," Andree said with a sigh.
In Peabody District Court on Monday afternoon, the SUV's driver, Ovidia Lopez-Esteban, entered not guilty pleas on several charges, including driving with a suspended license. After court, her husband apologized to the Andree family.
"I am sorry, I know how they feel, I feel the same, I have got kids, I have family, so I know the mom feels, just sorry," Maximiliano Lopez said.
A judge ordered Lopez-Esteban to appear back in court next month.
Back in the Andree's neighborhood, the parents of these two young girls are pushing for traffic changes.
"There just needs to be a traffic study or more enforcement of the rules that are over here, because at that time of day, there were two schools getting out," Andree said.
Her husband agrees, saying the neighborhood is packed with young children and there are two large schools nearby.
"It has been a tough few days, but the strength of my wife and my family has been incredible," Jason Andree said. "We look to the city to do some traffic studies, but we are grateful to the city for the first responders, the support and the reach out."
