BILLINGS — A Billings mother is pushing for more school bus stops after her son was struck by a vehicle while walking home from school Tuesday afternoon.
The incident happened at the intersection of Hilltop Road and Main Street in the Billings Heights. Dresden Kurtz was walking in the crosswalk, when a 27-year-old female driver attempted to turn right onto Main Street when the light was red, striking both Kurtz and another student.
The driver, who was not identified by Billings police, was cited with careless driving, which can come with up to six months in jail depending on the severity of the injuries involved.
Kurtz's mother Jackie Wilson said she didn't believe it when she first got the call.
"When I picked up, it was just sirens and just cop cars and I was like, 'Hello?'" Wilson said Wednesday afternoon. "Then he goes, 'Mom, I got ran over.' It was just sheer panic."
Wilson said she arrived at the scene as quickly as she could. Still, she didn't know what had truly happened.
"It was terrifying," Wilson said. "Absolute worst nightmare. My first thought was just, 'Am I going to lose my kid?'"
Kurtz was quickly transported to the Billings Clinic, where he is dealing with a broken leg, broken ribs and a fractured pelvis. On Wednesday, he underwent surgery for his leg.
"We're going to get through it," Wilson said. "It's going to be kind of a long healing process but he's still here to do that, so we're very grateful."
Wilson is doing her best to remain positive, but she does believe that the situation could have been avoided with different protocol from Billings Public Schools.
"I think we should all have a reasonable expectation that kids are going to be taken to school and brought home safely from school," Wilson said.
Currently, the school district only puts bus stops near homes outside of three miles from a student's school, because they said they don't have the funding to provide more transportation than that.
"In Montana, school bus transportation eligibility is strictly limited to students living outside a three-mile radius of school or those who qualify for special services." Superintendent Erwin Garcia explained in a statement to MTN Wednesday afternoon. "Currently, SD2 provides transportation for approximately 3,800 students, while around 12,800 either walk, bike, ride with their parents, or, in some cases, drive themselves to school."
Wilson said their family lives about 2.6 miles from Medicine Crow Middle School and that she is unable to drive her son to school consistently. Because of this, he relies on the city MET bus system, which is why Kurtz had just stepped off of a city bus before entering the crosswalk he was struck in.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to change (the rule) for kids in the future and for kids now," Wilson said. "It's not fair."
One thing is certain. After Wilson nearly lost her son, she's grateful for all who were on scene to help.
"You were there for my baby when I couldn't be," Wilson said with tears in her eyes. "It's just really nice to know that your children are taken care of when you can't be around."
