‘Pretty wild’: Parents, students in Ankeny coping after car crashes into school pickup line

Parents and students are still processing the shock after Tuesday afternoon’s incident at an Ankeny school, which brought a heavy emergency response and left more than a dozen children injured.A car jumped the curb in the pickup line at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish and School in Ankeny, sending 15 students to the hospital, including nine by ambulance. Parent Charisse Gardiner said it was “pretty wild” to see so many emergency vehicles gathered in one place as families tried to understand what had happened.Gardiner said her children — who are in first, third and fifth grades — were nearly home when the incident unfolded. Once she learned her own children were safe, she said her relief was mixed with heartbreak for the injured students, many of whom are friends and classmates of her children.“We’ve just been saying a lot of prayers for them, hoping that they recover quickly and that they’re not hurt too bad,” Gardiner said. “We’re just keeping them in our thoughts, really just praying for them.”Her oldest son, Callin Gardiner, said students are already trying to support those who were hurt. “Some people are making some cards for them,” he said. “And then everyone believes that they can get healthy fast.”A child mental health counselor with Orchard Place said the emotional effects will likely extend beyond the students who were physically injured. “Trauma, unfortunately, can have a lasting impact,” Allison Rawls said. “But a short-term trauma, like a one-off experience, there is a lot of hope for kids to be able to process and overcome it.”She said parents should watch closely for changes in their children, especially among students who witnessed what happened or know those who were injured. Children need to feel “safe and secure and supported,” she said, and parents should have honest conversations that validate their emotions, because frightening events can bring “really big feelings for small children to feel.”» Subscribe to KCCI's YouTube page» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play