PLAINWELL, Mich. — 8-year-old TiRon Jerry of Plainwell narrowly escaped serious injuries while riding his bicycle after being hit by a driver at an intersection near Eley Street and Allegan Street while biking with his father TiRon Jerry Sr.
"His tire caught my bike on the front, so it got damaged, and I was on the floor screaming and crying because it hurt my knee,” TiRon Jerry said.
TiRon Jerry Sr. said he and his son were on their way to pick up his other children at a daycare center when the accident happened. It's a route they've taken before, and drivers have always stopped to give them the right of way, but this ride with his son was different.
"My son was behind me and he slowed down and the car also slowed down,” TiRon Jerry Sr. said. "Then, as they both slowed down my son noticed he came to a complete stop, so he started going and then that car just went and ran his whole front bike over.”
The accident happened near the Dollar General. Broken pieces from car still remain at the site of the accident. A good Samaritan who lives nearby witnessed the whole thing happen and jumped into action.
"We checked to see how his legs were doing, and they were okay,” Karen Sincler said. "Then, he just had a little bleeding until we got Band-aids, water and antibiotic treatment and put it on him, then he was okay.”
Jerry said he wants drivers to be more careful on the road especially as the weather gets warmer as more people and children will be riding bikes. While he’s grateful the accident was minor, he knows it could have been a different story.
"Drivers need to look out for kids that are riding their bikes and just don't look one way, but look behind you forward, left to right, and look all around for a kid so you won’t hit them,” Jerry said.
The father said after posting to social media what happened, the amount of people who reached out to help is almost too much to take in. Dozens of people offered to replace his son’s bike, so many that he will now have many options to choose from.
"We reached out to the community just to see if anybody could help out with anything at all, and we had a significant amount of people say that they don't mind helping out, so we're getting him a new bike sometime today,” Jerry Sr. said.
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