Louisville Anchor's Daughter Hurt in Crash
Two teenagers are struck by a car as they attempted to cross the road. What could have been the opening line of a news story, hits much closer to home for a Louisville Anchor.
The daughter of WAVE 3 News Sunrise anchor John Boel was seriously injured Wednesday night when she and another girl were hit by a car in Jeffersontown.
Brianna Boel and a friend, both 14, were trying to cross the busy intersection of Hurstbourne Parkway and Linn Station Road around 8 p.m. Wednesday when the accident happened. Brianna suffered a fractured skull, a broken leg and a broken wrist. Doctors were also monitoring brain bleeding and a possible spine injury.
he second girl's injuries are less severe, according to John. Her name has not been released.
Witnesses told police the driver had the right of way as the girls crossed the street at the crosswalk.
"[The driver] hit the girl, and the girl buckled and hit the window," said witness Dylan Scarane. "Then her friend hit her and bounced off and went rolling, and they wouldn't move."
On his Facebook page Thursday afternoon, John Boel said his daughter was undergoing surgery to insert rods into her badly broken leg. Both her tibia and fibula snapped – a gruesome injury similar to the one University of Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered during the NCAA tournament in April.
"I played the Kevin Ware card in trying to relax Bree," John wrote, "reminding her what he was able to accomplish right away, and I was surprised at how well it worked. Thank you Kevin, one more time, for your inspiration in the real world."
It was Brianna's second surgery since the accident. Doctors first operated on her injured skull and worked to stop her brain from bleeding.
"I used to kid my daughter about being a wimp," John wrote on Facebook. "Truth is, she's stronger than I've ever been."
Police are treating the case as an accident. No charges are expected to be filed against the driver.
H/T WAVE