ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — A toddler was killed and the parents hurt after an evening bicycle ride Sunday night ended with a car crashing into the family.
- Police: Family was riding bikes on sidewalk before crash
- Longtime nurse who came upon scene tried to save toddler
- Identities of family members have not been released
- RELATED: Troopers: Infant Killed After Being Hit by Car in Altamonte Springs
The Altamonte Springs Police Department said the father was on a bicycle toting the child in a carrier and the mother was on a separate bike when a car slammed into them at about 7:50 p.m. on Maitland Boulevard and Eden Park Road. They were on a sidewalk, witnesses said.
The family members were taken to hospitals, where the 18-month-old was pronounced dead. The father was still in critical condition, and the mother had undergone surgery, police said Monday.
Officers said a 48-year-old woman who was behind the wheel stayed at the scene.
A pediatric nurse was in the right place at the right time to help. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to save the life of the child.
“That is still an image that I can not get out of my head,” Angie Lechman said.
A pediatric nurse for almost 20 years, she said she tried to do all she could do when she came upon the family.
“After doing this for so long, just looking at the baby, just his or her pupils looked... It was getting gray. It was hazed,” Lechman said. “As soon as I got back in the car with my family, I was in tears, and I just said that baby was not going to make it.”
When she pulled up to the crash scene to offer help, she said the shouts of fear quickly became cries for help from the mother trying to save her child.
“Words were, 'My baby! My baby! As we were down on the ground, helping the infant, there were several people around her,” Lechman said. “She kept trying to get up. As a mom, she wanted to be there for her baby.”
After something tragic like this, officers want to reiterate always be aware of your surroundings.
"The fact that we are a state that embraces the 'share the road' philosophy and everything like that, I don't think it's specific to the incident because the family was on the sidewalk, not on the roadway, so that would not be a factor in this case," Altamonte Springs Police spokeswoman Evelyn Estevez said.
Altamonte Springs Police hasn't released the names of the injured family members or the driver.
No one has been charged in the crash at this point.