Witness recalls south KC crash that killed 3rd grader biking to school: ‘Really hard’
Ruby Perkins is still having flashbacks and struggling to process what she witnessed Tuesday morning, when she and her family saw a third-grader biking to school get run over and killed by a van on a south Kansas City crosswalk.
“I don’t know which was worse. The actual situation, the whole event, or the aftermath of,” she said. “It’s just, it’s been a lot.”
Hazen Workman-Duffy, a third-grader at Ingels Elementary school, was biking to class on a marked crosswalk around 7:15 a.m., where police said she had a green signal. At the same time, a white Ford Transit van was traveling north on Food Lane and turning west on to Longview Road.
Ruby Perkins’ husband, Adrionn Perkins, was in the driver’s seat as they approached the intersection and saw the van drive over Workman-Duffy.
“My two smaller children were in the car,” Perkins said. “My four-year-old could pretty much comprehend what was going on. She was just like, ‘That girl got rolled over by that van,’ and she just kept saying that all day yesterday at daycare.”
Ruby Perkins had her husband pull over, and he immediately ran over to check the girl’s pulse, but couldn’t find one.
“It has been really hard,” Ruby Perkins said about trying to process what they witnessed. “I’m a mom, and the fact that our daughters are so close in age, it has been completely difficult to try to just go on with everyday life.”
Their oldest daughter is also in the third grade, but goes to a different school, she said.
As the minutes ticked by, Ruby and Adrionn Perkins kept switching off who stayed in the car with the kids and who was helping at the scene. Two other women also quickly came to help. One did CPR until medics arrived. Ruby Perkins told the other to check Workman-Duffy’s bookbag for any contact information.
“Her book bag kind of looked like my daughter’s,” Ruby Perkins said. “It was like a rainbow pattern with a bunch of different colors, and when she bled out, she bled out onto the bottom of it.”
Inside her book bag, though, was a permission slip for a field trip to the zoo scheduled for later this week.
“Her mom had just signed the form, and luckily it had her phone number on there,” Ruby Perkins said. “... so I called her mom and let her know she needed to come up to where we were.”
Ruby Perkins said she was sorry to be the person having to reach out, but told Workman-Duffy’s mother that she had been hit while biking to school. Workman-Duffy’s mother didn’t have a car but lived close by and arrived on foot.
At the same time she got to the scene, so did first responders. Ruby Perkins remembers watching Workman-Duffy’s mother approach her daughter as medics bent over her with an oxygen mask. Workman-Duffy’s mother’s hands were covering her mouth in disbelief.
“I went over to her, just kind of rubbed her back, held her hand, and I was like, ‘I know this is stupid to say, but I really need you to breathe,’ because she was just having a hard time catching her breath,” Ruby Perkins said.
Ruby Perkins said she was trying to compartmentalize her own emotions and tried to focus on being helpful. Her memory is blurry, but she does remember the medics who were there and that she was clinging to hope despite what she saw. But she lost her composure when she heard Workman-Duffy’s lips were blue.
“That’s when I couldn’t hold it in anymore,” she said, adding she went to the grass to cry.
The driver of the van lost it at that point too, Ruby Perkins said, noting he was in total shock over what happened.
“I broke down crying, and then he instantly started crying,” she said. “He was completely distraught and in complete disbelief. I really felt bad for him because he was very remorseful about the whole situation.”
Workman-Duffy’s mother went with her daughter to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to officials. Ruby Perkins has kept in contact with her since, consistently checking in on her and seeing how she can help.
“I definitely want to make sure she’s taken care of in this whole instance,” Ruby Perkins said. “She shouldn’t have to worry about mourning a loss to her daughter and then dealing with financial strain.”
Workman-Duffy’s death marked the 53rd traffic fatality this year, according to data tracked by the police department. The investigation is ongoing.
District speaks out, fundraiser started
In a statement to The Star, the Hickman Mills C-1 School District said they were saddened to hear about an Ingels Elementary School student’s passing.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the student’s family, friends, and the Ingels Elementary community,” the district said. “ Counselors and support staff are available to assist students and staff as they process this tragic loss.”
The district said they would not release additional details or make further comments to respect the family’s privacy.
Tuesday’s fatal crash was the third incident in that intersection in three months, according to data provided by the police department. On July 15, a vehicle hit a “fixed object” and on Aug. 27, a vehicle hit another from behind as it stopped in traffic.
A GoFundMe has been set up by Workman-Duffy’s great aunt, Heather Duffy, and has already surpassed the goal of raising $5,000.
“Thank you all for your generosity,” Duffy said in the GoFundMe post. “Your donations helped us reach our goal of at least being able to help Diana and Bobby with some of the cost of the celebration of life and funeral services.”
Volunteer steps up to help kids cross the street
On Thursday afternoon, days after the fatal wreck, Jorge Delara, 65, stood at the intersection as school got out. He had just begun volunteering that morning to watch the area and make sure kids crossed the street safely. According to Delara, it’s not an official effort, he just wants to help.
“I drive this (intersection) three, four times a day sometimes, and that’s what kills me,” he said. “If I had just had any inkling, any kind of idea that this was a problem, I would’ve been doing this a while ago.”
Delara has three grandkids who go to Ingels Elementary, but said their mother drives them to and from school. He and another man were at the intersection before school Thursday, but he was alone in the afternoon.
No kids walked through the intersection that morning, he said, and only one child was seen crossing in the afternoon. Several drivers and children waved at Delara from their vehicles and shouted their thank you’s to the man who said he will continue to volunteer twice a day and hopes more people will join to keep the children safe.
