‘Be careful’: Family of 10-year-old struck by vehicle urges motorists and pedestrians to be cautious

10-year-old Montrealer Kyaa Guinto was hit by a car and sent to hospital in critical condition back on May 17.

The young girl was in a coma for two weeks.

Now, just over five weeks later, Guinto is home and recovering well, but her mother Stephanie Ledesma is pleading with drivers and pedestrians alike to be more careful.

“Just be aware of your surroundings,” she said. “Please put the cell phones down, cross in the proper places because and look around you, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Ledesma never could have imagined what happened to her little girl.

10-year-old Kyaa Guinto in a medically-induced coma after being hit by a car. (Credit: Stephanie Ledesma, handout)

“Kyaa decided to not go to practice basketball practice that day and headed home on foot, which she was not supposed to and crossed the street in not in a proper place, and then got hit by a car,” said Ledesma. “What I was told was the driver was going 30 kilometers per hour, which is the limit here around Lachine. But I still have a hard time believing that it was really 30  because of the damages that she she went through.”

Kyaa suffered a brain injury, with swelling and bleeding. And physically was full of cuts and bruises.

“I just passed out and woke up in the hospital,” the 10-year-old said.

The vehicle was going east on Saint-Antoine Street when the accident happened. It remains under investigation, but police tell CityNews the driver collaborated with them and no criminal elements have been found.

10-year-old girl in critical condition after being hit by car in Lachine

But Stephanie says she still doesn’t know exactly happened.

“She is very tall, I don’t know how she could have been missed,” said Ledesma. “That the question still unanswered.”

Stephanie Ledesma and her daughter, Kyaa Guinto. (Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews image)

Traffic-calming measures have already been implemented in the borough since 2017. Almost all of the roads in Lachine are 30 km per hour zones.

In the time that Ledesma and Guinto spoke to CityNews, several cars were seen seemingly rolling above the speed limit.

“That’s not 30,” Ledesma said, pointing at a speeding car.

(Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews image)

“Be alert when you’re driving because I don’t know what happened, I don’t really remember,” said Guinto.

“Maybe the fourth day, fifth day of waking up from her induced coma, she started to talk the way she used to,” said Ledesma. “She remembered all of us, which was a blessing, and we started physio.”

Guinto is on her feet again, but she still can’t walk alone because of some lingering balance issues.

“What I went through, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Ledesma said.

A recent CAA-Quebec survey urges cautions as well, citing the 75 days between Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Labour Day as the most deadly time on the province’s roads.

Summer deadliest time of year on roads: CAA-Quebec

“Children also be aware, please be careful crossing the street,” Ledesma said. “Parents, please remind them every time how dangerous it is.”