"I do not understand how she survived," the family's attorney said. She suffered a fractured skull, a cut on her scalp and shoulder, and her pelvic bone is broken in three places.
A 9-year-old Georgia girl's family says she's lucky to be alive after a car p l o w e d into her as she was playing in the front yard.
Surveillance video showed the h*arrowing moments the black sedan b* arreled into LaDerihanna Holmes while she was playing outside of her Lithonia house Friday with a friend.
"I do not understand how she s* u r v i v e d," her family's attorney, L. Chris Stewart, said.
Holmes' mother, Charlette Bolton, said LaDerihanna s* uffered a f* racture*d s* kull and c *ut*s on her s* cal*p and shoulder, and her pelvic bone is b* roken in th*ree places. LaDerihanna's friend was also h* ospitalized, but not seriously i* njure*d.
DeKalb County p* olic*e said the driver of the car and a passenger both got out of the car after it c* rashe*d into the front of the house and ran away. P* olic*e spoke with the owner of the car, who said her boyfriend had it that day. They have not identified any s*uspects.
Stewart said when he saw the video, he "almost fell out of my chair." And then when he visited LaDerihanna in the h* ospital he "just stared at her in the bed wondering 'How is she sitting right here watching TV, holding a teddy bear when I just saw her get c* rushe*d by a car?'"
The video shows people from the neighborhood pour into the yard as others come out of the house through the opening created by the car.
Bolton, who was home, ran outside as soon as she heard the "u*nearthing sound."
LaDerihanna HolmesCourtesy Holmes Family
"I was acting out of pure a*drenaline and emotion when I saw my baby girl l*aying on that ground," Bolton said. "She wasn't m*oving. Her eyes was open and a*gape. Her eyes were fixed, and I thought she was gone."
A boy from the neighborhood and LaDerihanna's brother started performing CPR on her before her father wh*isked her off to the h*ospital. She's expected to be h*ospitalize*d for at least a week, but her parents said she's recovering well.
"She's awake. She's up, she's talking, she's smiling, she's FaceTiming," Bolton said.
LaDerihanna, a straight-A student, loves school, reading, cheerleading, dancing and stepping, her mother said.
"She's a very blessed, strong, gifted little girl. And I'm proud to be her mom," Bolton said.