Two sisters hit by a car in a Toledo crosswalk returned to school this week, weeks after the Sept. 4 crash on Bancroft Street. Staff at the school where the collision occurred greeted them with a gift basket as the community that supported their recovery welcomed them back.
Malayna Bishop Schak, 11, and her 5-year-old sister, Makenna Wise-Schak, were in a crosswalk on Bancroft Street just after 3 p.m. on Sept. 4. The crossing lights were on, and crossing guard Floyd Jordan, known as Mr. Floyd, had signaled them to go.
Police said an 80-year-old Ottawa Hills woman was driving eastbound on Bancroft and did not slow down in the school zone. She told police she did not see the girls.
“I’m glad they’re walking and they’re OK. Because I was devastated when that happened because the car just missed me and hit them,” Jordan said.
Hawkins STEAM Academy is rallying around the family. The girls attend St. Benedict but were outside Hawkins that day with their mother, picking up their younger brother. The girls returned to Hawkins Wednesday, where staff greeted them with a gift basket filled with items to help the family heal.
“We were there before the first responders, so just to see what those girls have endured and what the mother was going through. We could not think of nothing better but to do something for the family,” Principal Aufwiedersehen Winfield said.
Toledo police say the crash remains under investigation. The Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the case. The driver declined to comment.
For Jordan, seeing the girls walk in was emotional.
“I’m out there every morning and I wave at everybody that goes by and say good morning,” Jordan said.
Staff call him a hero.
“Thank you for keeping our students, our staff, our community safe,” a staff member told him. “You’re welcome,” Jordan responded.
Jordan said the crash was traumatic for him, and he has a message for drivers.
“Slow down. They do not like to slow down,” Jordan said. “I tell them, you don’t want to slow down, go another way.”
Jordan said he has made his own signs telling drivers to slow down.
