Girl ejected from church van released from hospital

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- e of the two sisters who were thrown out of a church van last week revealed she does not remember the accident that put her in the hospital for six days.

"I don't know what happened," said 12-year-old Tatyana Carter, who was released from Jackson Memorial Hospital Tuesday night after being admitted last Wednesday with a swollen brain.

The light is so intense for Carter that she now always wears sunglasses, even indoors. "I feel pressure in my eyes, and when I turn my eyes my head begins to pound," she said.

According to police, last Wednesday, a driver ran a stoplight and struck the church van taking Carter and her sister, Jenesis Williams, home from school at the intersection of 199th Street and 12th Avenue in Miami Gardens. Both siblings, sixth graders at Norland Middle School, were ejected though the van's windows.

Jenesis suffered minor scrapes and cuts, but Carter hit the pavement with such force that blood began to pour on the brain. Both victims were airlifted to JMH.

Carter spent six days at the hospital and was released Tuesday night. She now suffers from headaches and is very sensitive to light. "My head hurts, and my eyes hurt, and at times my lower back hurts," she said.

The sisters' family is grateful for the drivers who stopped and helped her daughters as they lay on the pavement. However, Lowanschell Williams, their grandmother, saves her biggest gratitude for a higher power. "Thank God, because it could have been worse, it could have been a lot worse," she said.

Even though Carter has no memory of the accident that might affect the rest of her life, she said she is glad she survived the ordeal. "I'm thankful that I'm still alive, and that nothing worse than this happened," she said.

Carter will spend more time at home recovering.

Authorities said the man who caused the accident probably had a heart attack behind the wheel.

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