Injured bus victims recover slowly
One of two teenaged girls seriously injured in a bus mishap on Wednesday morning, Nicole Vacarro of Ladyville is only now able to speak coherently about her ordeal. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods visited Nicole and families of both young women to see what the future holds.
Nicole Vacarro, Accident Victim
“Well I am not feeling too bad, but I can’t move my legs.”
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
It will be some time before fourteen-year-old Nicole Vacarro will be able to walk. Her pelvic bones were crushed and bladder punctured after she and her cousin, fifteen-year-old Shamira McKoy, were hit by a bus they had just alighted and pinned against a guardrail.
Nicole Vacarro
“We came off the bus. My cousin was in the front and I was at the back. We were walking, and then the bus came in too close, so I leaned over the rail, then the bus got closer, then it was mashing me and my cousin together. While the bus was going and mashing us, I was going around, spinning and then the conductor heard us crying out and told the man to stop. Then he moved my legs from between the wheels and a car came behind and bring me to the hospital.”
Vacarro says she and her cousin had no choice but to walk on the outside of the pavement because that is where the bus driver let them out. Elida Vacarro says its painful watching her daughter not able to move and hopes that she will get better soon.
Elida Vacarro , Nicole’s Mother
“The doctor says they are waiting another three or more four days to see what is her reaction. But right now, they have healed the bones that have broken, they put back some, but some they cannot because they’re like splinters. So right now it’s just medication she’s on, and we just pray to God that she gets through it.”
The family says while they have been reassured by doctors that Nicole will be able to walk again, they are concerned about the extent of her injuries and believe she will need to go abroad for further treatment.
Elida Vacarro
“Well the doctor said right now the X-ray that he saw, he’d let Nicole stay for at least two weeks and then if I still want to take her out, then I can take her out.”
The accident has affected the victims’ families both emotionally and financially. Vacarro and McKoy say Tony Novelo, the General Manager of Novelos Bus Company, told them that the company’s insurance would pay for the medical expenses. However, they have yet to receive any money.
Godfrey McKoy, Shamira’s Father
“Novelos no give us any assistance you know. My boss give me money to do what I need to do. Mr. Novelo not even give me one cent. Not even free transport to come to hospital or nothing.”
Elida Vacarro
“We are trying out best right now, but if my daughter has to fly out or anything, then it’s Mr. Novelo that we’ll have to deal with. He will have to deal with the insurance, but we’ll have to deal with him. Because it was his bus that did this, and we want satisfaction because it’s more than once that this has happened. Because even we big ones, many times that has happened to me, we tell the bus we want to stop, they drive like they’re crazy and when they stop us off, they stop us off anywhere. When we tell them what happen to the sidewalk, they just rail-up and put we out. And that has happened more than once. I think Mr. Novelo has to really get to the drivers and talk to them because the drink and drive and they don’t notice what they’re doing, and this is too much now.”
McKoy says they have also become concerned about their daughter’s condition. Hospital Authorities say Shamira is scheduled to go home, but the family says she can barely move and they believe it is too soon for her to be discharged.
Beulah Bodden, Shamira’s Mother
“Very frustrating to see Shamira on this bed lying like this, she wasn’t like this before and it hurts so bad. She can’t move, she can’t do anything for herself and it hurts.”
The police say they have started taking statements from Vacarro and McKoy, and until their investigation has been concluded, no charges will be brought against the bus driver Leonzo Rivera. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
We contacted Novelo’s Bus Company and spoke with manager Adolfo Quan. According to Quan, their insurance company will be paying for Vacarro and McKoy’s medical expenses, including any up front cash payments required. Quan also says if the girls need further medical attention, the company will assist with the costs, as well as provide the families with bus passes to allow them to visit the girls. As for the bus driver, Quan told News 5 that Leonzo Rivera has been suspended from work until further notice and they have also issued warnings to all their drivers about what Quan admits has become a habitual problem: bus drivers stopping outside of the designated bus stops and driving with the doors kept open.
