Heroic police officer saves student from oncoming car, video shows

[Feb 7, 2022: Adam Sabes]

A Maryland police officer is being hailed after saving a student from an oncoming car Friday, and instead taking a hit herself.

Video released by Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger shows Cpl. Annette Goodyear from the North East Police Department moving the student out of harm's way, with the officer herself getting struck and falling to the street.

The incident happened outside North East Middle School in North East, Maryland.

The video clearly shows Goodyear in the middle of the street, extending an arm to get the driver to stop as the student enters the crosswalk – but moments later the vehicle enters the camera shot and strikes the officer.

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The pavement appears wet after rainfall but it wasn't immediately clear if that was a factor in the driver's vehicle entering the crosswalk.

Goodyear has been a crossing guard for 14 years and said she's never seen anything like what happened. Her split-second reaction was to get the student out of harm's way, she said.

"It was strange. As I’m lying there I’m thinking to myself this actually did happen. I didn’t even know what to think about at that point," Goodyear said. "It didn’t seem real as it was happening."

The officer said she cared only about keeping the children safe.

"For me, I’m a parent as well, and it’s like I just want to make sure all these children are safe, and it didn’t matter if I was struck or not," she said.

After Goodyear left the hospital, she checked on the student to make sure he was OK.

"She came down the stairs saw me standing there and as she was walking toward the door she was getting teary-eyed, and you could see it and when she got teary-eyed, then her dad started getting teary-eyed, and we all started at that point," Goodyear said. "I was just so thankful she was standing there and that she was OK."

The Cecil County executive told reporters she was "incredibly grateful" for what Goodyear did.

"It was an amazing act of heroism," County Executive Danielle Hornberger said. "Truly, that is what we envision of to protect and serve. That’s what we want in our community, and it’s just humbling; it's breathtaking; it’s amazing, and we’re just so proud to have Cpl. Goodyear in our community."

The driver of the vehicle that hit Goodyear and nearly hit the student, however, was issued four citations, which include failure to stop at a yield sign before entering a crosswalk and negligent driving.

Note: Materials provided above by Adam Sabes. Content may be edited for style and length.

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