VALHALLA, N.Y. (PIX11) — Three teenage friends are fighting for their lives after surviving a head-on crash with a school bus in Westchester County. Investigators say that one of the teens was behind the wheel of the 2016 Honda Accord, driving without a license, when he lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the bus.
There were four teens, all friends since childhood, were riding together in the Honda, when it crashed into the bus at 2:13 pm Wednesday afternoon, according to police investigators. Three of them were in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center, according to the hospital, which is the only Level 1 trauma center in the Hudson Valley.
The families of the most badly injured teens each posted GoFundMe accounts describing how badly hurt the three were. Their respective cases were grim.
One patient, 17, had gone into cardiac arrest at the crash scene on Lake Road between Torah and Crow Hill Roads, according to the GoFundMe page his family set up for him. “By the grace of God and the paramedics, they performed CPR and brought him back,” the family wrote.
Another of the victims, 16, suffered injuries such as a broken neck, fractured spine, broken leg, and half of his skull was taken out because of a hematoma,” his family wrote on the GoFundMe page for him.
The third crash victim, 16, “was in surgery for over five hours. He is currently in a critical state. Axel is on a ventilator, has a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lungs, liver hemorrhage, and two broken legs,” according to the GoFundMe page set up by his family.
According to police who worked the scene, at 2:13 pm Wednesday, one of the victims, a 16-year-old without a driver’s license, left the Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES campus in Yorktown Heights with his three friends. All four are students at the BOCES campus.
They were driving to Fox Lane High School, about nine miles away, where the four are also registered, according to family members’ accounts.
Police who worked the scene said that the car went out of control at a turn on Lake Road in New Castle, and hit the school bus head-on. The students on the bus were all reported to have non-life-threatening injuries. Five people from the school bus were listed in stable condition at Westchester Medical Center Thursday evening.
However, three of the four teens are clearly in much worse shape, as their GoFundMe pages say.
One of the families’ accounts also says, “We would also like to thank the woman who pulled out all the boys from the car accident when it happened.” It’s evident that that woman’s identity remains a mystery, but she’s being considered a hero.
The Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, where the four teens are students, issued a statement:
“Neither New Castle Police nor the Bedford Central School District, has released the names of the injured students. Therefore, we do not believe it would be appropriate to speak about them at this time.
Counselors are available to speak with students, families, or staff needing support. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the injured students during this difficult time.”
