On Wednesday night, a six-year-old boy was critically injured after sledding into a passing car in McLean, VA. It’s that particularly excruciating kind of accident where a child gets hurt doing what kids do best: playing.
Fairfax County police said the incident occurred about 5:40 p.m. The boy was part of a small group of children who were under adult supervision and were snowboarding and sledding at a property in the 7000 block of Matthew Mills Road.
The boy’s sled slid into a 2015 Lexus as it passed on the street, police said. The driver of the car, a 65-year-old McLean woman, heard a loud noise, according to a police news release. She recognized what had happened and “immediately got out and rendered aid to the child.”
The driveway is on the property of a vacant house that has a for-sale sign posted. Esfandiar Khazai, a developer who lives near the other end of the block, said children often go to the empty house to play. Although they are supervised by adults, it still worries him.
“They’re always doing that,” Khazai said. “I’m always very careful when I pass.”
The boy was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital with life-threatening injuries. In a Thursday morning news release, police said the boy remained in critical condition. The driver was not injured.
The boys name, we’ve learned from the family, is Bensten. Bensten is one of us, a Caps fan.
We shared this image last night. Michael Latta and Joel Ward did as well.
@russianmachine Huge Caps fan, B-man, was hit by a car and is in critical condition. Please rt 4 prayers. #pray4bman pic.twitter.com/7SYHtT2yuB
— TBenst (@tbensten) January 29, 2015
Bensten’s uncle Tyler wrote us from the hospital on Thursday night:
I have been a long-time season-ticket holder and religious follower of your blog, and Bensten is no doubt following right behind me to carry the Caps torch. I may be partial being his uncle, but Bensten is the most amazing 6-year-old you could imagine. Well-mannered, fun, and just has the most amazing heart. Rarely do you find a kid of his age that puts others before himself the way he does. Yesterday afternoon B was sledding with his family and tragically was hit by a car. He is currently under the amazing care of INOVA Fairfax in a coma. His situation is very touch and go at this point and we are trying to get as many people praying for him as possible (#Pray4BMan). I have attached some photos of him. The one of the snowman was taken on Tuesday after he made his sisters help him make a ‘Caps Player Out of Snow’. He is just an all around amazing kid.
Here are Tyler’s photos.
Here’s what we’re going to do– because Bensten needs some good vibes.
Grab a pen and paper. Write a short message to Bensten. Take a selfie while holding your message. Post it in the comments below and the #Pray4BMan hashtag on Twitter. It’ll only take you a minute, I promise. Here’s what Rachel came up with.
When Bensten wakes up, we’ll show him that we’ve all been rooting for him.
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