Published: 01:36 EDT, September 17, 2023 | Updated: 01:49 EDT, September 17, 2023
In a harrowing video, a six-year-old girl can be seen screaming at her nine-year-old brother to slow down his bike just before he was fatally injured by a truck outside their home.
Savannah Dennis could be heard crying desperately for her brother Benjamin outside her home in San Leon, Texas, on Monday evening as they prepared for an adult bike ride. The children’s mother was inside cooking at the time.
The little girl gave a heartbreaking account of how she tried to help her brother after he was hit KTRK: “I was right there next to the road, so I ran into the road, screamed his name and dragged him out from behind the truck so he wouldn’t hit him again.”
Benjamin was rushed to hospital, where doctors declared him brain dead on Thursday and turned off life support. Organs were donated to the teenager, a fourth-grader.
Surveillance footage captured the tragic moment as Benjamin cycled straight onto the road before being hit by a passing truck outside his home
The truck that killed Benjamin is seen approaching, just before he was hit and fatally injured
Benjamin and his sister were preparing for a bike ride on Monday afternoon around 7:30 p.m
The fourth-grader at Lobit Elementary School was taken off life support Thursday evening and his organs were donated
Benjamin’s bike lies on the road outside his home hours after the accident on Monday evening that led to his tragic death
It is the third death in less than a month at the same notoriously dangerous intersection, and Benjamin’s affected family are now calling for traffic lights to be installed there.
Benjamin’s mother, Sarah Touchet, ran to help when she realized what had happened.
She recalled tearfully: “I just kept breathing and begging him to stay.”
Benjamin’s family is now campaigning for traffic control to prevent further accidents at the dangerous intersection.
It’s on a curve right off a busy road, and drivers don’t slow down when they get off the road that leads to it.
“You could look at the video and tell me he never saw him,” said Nancy Suffield, Benjamin’s grandmother. “He didn’t know he had hit someone until after the fact, and it was too late.”
“I was right there next to the road, so I ran into the road, screamed his name and dragged him out from behind the truck so he wouldn’t hit him again,” said a heartbroken Savannah
Benjamin is pictured with his mother Sarah Touchet in a photo taken just hours before he was hit by the truck
Sarah cries as she talks about what happened after her beloved son was fatally injured
Benjamin’s family is now campaigning for traffic control to prevent further accidents at the dangerous intersection
“You could look at the video and tell me he never saw him,” said Nancy Suffield, Benjamin’s grandmother
“I can’t bring my grandson back,” Suffield said.
“That’s why we’re asking someone to come forward and take care of the matter. Please help us get this done.”
The family said speed on the road in front of their home was a constant problem and the speed limit was 80km/h.
Less than a month before the accident that killed Benjamin, two people were also killed in a motorcycle accident at the intersection.
Touchet, who was home at the time, said she ran to help.
