'You're not going to die, baby:' 911 calls show panic after kids hit on beach

5-year-old girl suffers serious injuries on Ormond-by-the Sea beach

ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. – A 5-year-old girl can be heard in a 911 call crying and screaming as her mother tries to reassure her moments after a vehicle ran through a guardrail and hit her and her siblings while they were on the beach.

"Yes, my 5-year-old daughter, her head is split open," the girl's mother said.

Troopers said 82-year-old William Johnson lost control of a Toyota Venza at 4 p.m. Wednesday and traveled into a parking lot at Al Weeks Sr. North Shore Park along State Road A1A in Ormond-by-the-Sea, hit a pole then went through a fence and ran over 5-year-old Cora Buzzo.

Her 3-year-old brother, 5-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother suffered minor injuries when they were bumped by the vehicle, according to the report.

"My 3-year-old, all of my kids were on the beach, he ran them over," the girl's mother said.

Family members told News 6 that Cora was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville with a broken pelvis. Cora is in good condition, according to hospital officials.

In the 911 call, she can be heard asking her mother how bad the injury is. 

"You're not going to die, baby. It's OK," the mother said.

"Am I bleeding?" Cora asked.

"It's OK, it's just a little bit," the mother responded.

Body camera footage released Thursday by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office shows first responders treated the children in the sand then lifting Cora onto a stretcher. First responders applauded the children for their courage.

 

"You're so brave, good job," one first responders told the children.

Wyatt Barber, 11, said he remembers his mother and stepfather yelling for them to run moments before the crash, but it was too late. He said he did everything he could to protect his younger siblings.

"I wish I was the one that got hurt the most," Barber said. "I just don't want anything to happen to the little ones."

Officials from the Florida Highway Patrol said Johnson was ticketed for careless driving and they are recommending that he undergo a driver's license re-examination.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:  Authorities initially said the crash happened in nearby Ormond Beach.]

 


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