CONWAY, Ark. – Thursday was a scary day for University of Central Arkansas student Regan Belue when she was hit by a car while crossing the street.
She made it out of the accident with only a minor concussion and a few scratches. When she got to the emergency room, and the doctor saw the video of what happened, he said it was a miracle she was able to tell the story.
“I was crossing Donaghey to get over to the deli when it happened,” Belue said.
Being let out of class early is a great start to any college student’s day, but for Belue, it turned out to be quite a scary start.
Belue was crossing Donaghey Avenue where it intersects with Bruce Street to eat lunch, she waited for her signal to walk, as she does nearly every day. When it was her turn, she started crossing.
“And last second I looked to my left and there was just a car right there,” Belue said.
After she was hit, she was dragged around 40 feet down the road.
“I was just kind of like shocked, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just got hit by a car,’” Belue said.
To the shock of everyone, Belue walked away from the accident. No broken bones or internal damage. She has just a few bruises and a minor concussion. The doctor couldn’t believe his eyes.
“He saw the video and he just like gasped, and he was like, ‘What I’m seeing on that video and what you look like in this bed right now do not correlate,’” she said. “He was like, ‘I do not know how you are just fine right now.’”
After lunch, she planned to study, and as an exercise science major, her backpack was busting at the seams with textbooks. Those textbooks ultimately saved her life.
“I landed on the backpack instead of on my back or my head on the road and then I just kind of slid because it was wet, so my backpack took a lot of the force instead of me,” Belue said.
She hopes to bring awareness to those driving and walking in that area and urges them to be very careful.
“It is a big main road in Conway and people drive on it, and you just have to make sure you’re always watching and not speeding on that road because there are pedestrians always on that road coming from class all the time,” Belue said.
Belue said Friday she woke up sorer than yesterday but said it’s nothing she can’t handle and is thankful it wasn’t worse.
FOX 16 News did reach out to the Conway Police Department, UCA, and the City of Conway for comment.
With Friday being the observance of Veterans Day, the Conway PD report is unavailable.
A representative with the city of Conway said that they have worked to make that area safer and encourage all drivers and pedestrians to use extreme caution when traveling down Donaghey Avenue.