Girl ejected from church van shares survival story

MIAMI (WSVN) -- One of two young stepsisters ejected from a church van on their way home from school recounted her ordeal. The other girl remains in the hospital with a swollen brain.

According to police, the driver of a gray sedan traveling down 199th Street in Miami Gardens suffered a heart attack and ran the red light on Northwest 12th Avenue, Wednesday afternoon. This caused him to crash into the white van where Jenesis Miller and Tatiana Carter were riding with other children, between the ages of 11 and 13.

The sisters, who are students at Norland Middle School, were both ejected from the van. Jenesis ran to her sister's side. "She was bleeding, she wasn't responding," Miller said, "I was scared."

Miller said she immediately started praying. She said, even in the midst of all the chaos surrounding the accident, she felt certain God would take care of it. "I knew she was going to be OK." she said.

John Jackson, a driver who witnessed the collision, rushed in to help. "She wasn't saying anything. She was trying to move, and I told her not to move," he said.

Wanda, another motorist commented on the accident. "All of a sudden, a gray car sped right into the middle of the street and hit the van, and it twisted around and a girl ejected from out of the van," she said.

The impact left the van's driver feeling shaken up. "I feel bad," said Cleveland Roberts Sr. "That's all I want to say cause I'm woozy right now, and I'm going to get some attention."

The 12-year-old sisters were both airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Carter's brain was bleeding, and doctors said it still has swelling.

Miller told doctors to focus on her little sister. "I saw that she was more hurt than I was, so I told them to give her more attention because I was OK," she said.

The seventh grader suffered some scrapes on her legs. She was treated at JMH and discharged.

For the girls' family, seeing them at the hospital was heartbreaking. "I hate it with a passion," said the sisters' mother. "I'm so nervous right now. I'm just praying and putting all my faith in God."

"We are believers," said Jernard Miller, Jenesis' father. "I'm just glad that [Jenesis] was aware enough to reach out to that power."

Tatiana remained at JMH Thursday evening, but doctors believe she will be able to make a full recovery.

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