My son was hit by a van today

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

I am struggling a bit with processing it all. Ds is 13 and walks to school. It takes 30mins and there are a few busy roads to cross. He is very road aware and uses crossings etc. But it was still pretty dark and his uniform is dark.

He used a crossing the lights changed and he stepped out into the road but a van went through the red light and hit ds. Sending him flying and he hit the opposite side of the road. There were witnesses and the driver stopped. A woman passing was a health care professional and she looked after ds and called me. He was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital by ambulance.

He is ok and home now. His head hurts he is in shock I think but he is very lucky not to be more seriously injured. I just cannot get my head around it all.
He could have been killed.

How do I ever let him or his younger siblings out ever again? How will ds feel about this in the morning? when he goes back to school how will I let him walk away?

That's such a lovely gesture. Glad your ds is doing OK.

DD 10 was hit by a car two years ago and the sick feeling lasted awhile. However, as awful and as scary as it was, it did make her more cautious and she took crossing the street more seriously, which eased my anxieties somewhat.

She was skittish for several months post accident but it was very important that I didn't transfer my anxieties to her. I accompanied her whenever she needed to cross the street and we practiced road safety and four months post accident we were both fine.

It was the shock of my life but keeping my shit together for her sake was really important and helped me in the long run.

So sorry this happened, but it is good that your son has learnt how dangerous some drivers can be. You have to be sure that all the cars have stopped before crossing the road.

There's a crossing by my house and I've lost count of the times people run the red light. It makes me so mad. It happens almost daily in the touristy summer months. I live in fear of my kids getting hurt. I've been on the crossing before with them when someone's run the light. I've developed a very loud shout that usually puts the shits up the wankers that can't drive. It also reinforces to my kids that crossings aren't always safe and you have to double check and not just follow the green man.

You have my every sympathy OP. I'm glad your lad wasn't hurt.