Cpl. Annette Goodyear was outside a middle school in Cecil County, Md., on Friday morning, guiding students across the street while wearing her neon orange crossing guard jacket.
As one student made her way to the center of the crosswalk, a car suddenly came speeding through.
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“Out of the corner of my eye, I just see this blur,” said Goodyear, who has been an officer with the North East Police Department for 14 years and was working her regular crossing guard shift Feb. 4. in the small town at the top of the Chesapeake Bay.
In a now-viral video, Goodyear can be seen shoving the student out of the way as she takes a hit from the oncoming car herself.
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“Everything just happened so quickly,” Goodyear said. “It just didn’t seem real.”
Still, “I could feel the pain in my knees and my arms hitting the hood of the car,” she said.
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The car continued to plow through the crosswalk, before ultimately coming to a stop.
“It took me a few seconds to realize that this did just happen,” said Goodyear. “I just remember laying on the ground and looking up, and the first thing I thought was ‘where is the student?’ ”
Fortunately, the student was physically unharmed. The student swiftly sprung up from the ground to check on Goodyear.
“I could see that she was confused, and she came back to me just to make sure I was okay,” Goodyear said. “She was panicking. I felt horrible, because I couldn’t just jump up and grab a hold of her and say, ‘everything is okay.’ ”
The driver got out of her vehicle and said, “I just didn’t see you,” Goodyear recalled. “I’m thinking, ‘how could you not see that?’ ”
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In the 14 years that she has been a crossing guard, “I have never had a car come this close to the crosswalk,” Goodyear said. While there have been instances in which a driver has sped through the intersection or expressed annoyance about having to wait for students to cross, “there’s been nothing this blatant.”
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According to the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office, the driver was cited for numerous traffic violations, including negligent driving.
Goodyear, who has three sons, said it was a combination of her training and being a parent that caused her to jump in front of the car to save the student.
“This is a kid, and I’m an adult. No matter what happens, you got to protect that child and make sure that child is safe,” she said. “That was the only thing that was going through my mind. If I have to take the brunt of it, that’s what’s going to happen.”
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She remained on the ground for several minutes on Cecil Avenue, right in front of North East Middle School, before she was able to get up on her own. Goodyear was then taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was released shortly after.
The video of the incident, which was captured on a bus camera, was shared widely on social media. Goodyear is being hailed a hero by strangers online, as well as her colleagues and town officials.
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“She is just an amazing person, and we’re so lucky to have her working in our community,” said Danielle Hornberger, the Cecil County executive, adding that she has spoken with the North East mayor, Michael Kline, and they plan to honor Goodyear for her actions. “She saved this young lady in just an instant.”
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Goodyear’s actions are a “clear representation of how our law enforcement officers really do ‘protect and serve,’ ” she continued. “They do it every day in small and large ways. It’s just not always this amazing or caught on video.”
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What moved Hornberger most about what happened, she said, was that once Goodyear was released from the hospital, she went straight to the middle school to check on the student, who she was told had gone home for the day as she was shaken up from the accident. So, Goodyear went directly to the student’s house.
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The student came down the stairs when she saw the officer at the front door, and she and her father both got teary-eyed. Goodyear shed a tear, too.
“It was emotional,” Goodyear said. “I had to personally see that she was okay.”
Goodyear hopes that the national attention the story has received will push people to be more alert while driving, particularly near schools.
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“If you could just slow down and make sure you’re really paying attention, for the safety of the kids,” she cautioned.
Although Goodyear is “still a little sore,” she said Monday, “I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow morning.”
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