OCALA, FL (352today.com) – It’s been just over two months since 12-year-old Kennadie Resko was struck by a truck and trailer, who then fled from the scene.
Kennadie was walking home from Belleview Middle School on the evening of November 6 comfortably paced on the east shoulder of County Road 467 (CR 467).
Her normal route home calls for her to cut across near Belleview Veterinary Hospital toward 110th Street.
As she was about to cross, an oncoming truck described as a white 4-door pickup truck towing a utility trailer was traveling northbound on CR 467.
As the truck approached, it reportedly struck an object in the road and fishtailed onto the shoulder, striking Kennadie on the right side of her body.
According to Kennadie’s’ mom, Sara Resko, the truck “just kept driving” after hitting her.
It’s a situation Resko describes as “awful,” writing in a Facebook post, “I pray no one ever gets the phone call I got while this a** lives his life like he didn’t leave my child on the side of the road.”
Resko says Kennadie was left with severe rubber embedment from her knee to her lower hip, along with “a lot” of soft tissue damage. She was rushed to UF Health Shands, where doctors had to surgically debride the rubber embedded in her skin.
After undergoing a complete debridement of her wounds, Kennadie was released from the hospital and returned home just one night after the accident.
FHP released a photo of the truck the day after the accident, alerting the public to keep tabs on the whereabouts of the truck and trailer.
Which brings us to present day. What’s happened in the two months since the accident? Sara provides us an update on Kennadie’s condition.
“Kennadie is healing nicely,” says Resko, who says Kennadie is still dealing with a hematoma from the accident, but that it is finally starting to “soften up”.
“She’s very brave,” said Resko of her daughter. “I think she has handled the situation very well, all things considered.”
Resko says a resolution could come from local infrastructure keeping up with the large influx of residents, saying that the current state of infrastructure is “not built for the number of houses and people here.”
“Marion County is growing too fast,” exclaimed Resko. “I know a lot of times we joke about being full but really we are!”
Resko says regardless of potential speedbumps, nothing is stopping her from advocating for safe speed limits around schools and bringing the hit-and-run driver to justice.
“For Kennadie and all the families, something has to be done. While she’s my priority, someone has to stand up and scream for these children.”