Student recovering after being hit by car along Coconut Road in Estero

ESTERO, Fla. (WINK) — A middle school student is recovering after being hit by a car at a bus stop along Coconut Road.

The crash happened Tuesday morning when the student was waiting at her bus stop, as she does each day. She heard the squealing of tires, and then a car crashed into her.

Brian Masters was the first to get a call from his granddaughter. His wife, Lori, got a call from the school and had to park down the street at a nearby construction site.

"I ran up here. It's been a lot of years since I ran, and I couldn't breathe," Lori Masters said. "Thinking your grandchild is hit by a car."

The bus had stopped in front of the student when a driver veered around the bus to avoid rear-ending it. Instead, the car hit the backpack the student was wearing.

"It actually saved her. We had a miracle. We had a miracle yesterday. We are so thankful, but people have got to slow down," Lori Masters said.

The driver left more than 50 feet of tire marks in the road and grass, even taking a chunk out of a tree in front of the Masters' neighborhood. When Brian Masters approached the driver, she acknowledged her mistake.

"She said to me when I walked by, she goes, I'm praying for her. I'm praying for her. I said, why are you driving so fast? She goes, yes, I'm driving too fast. I couldn't stop," Brian Masters said.

Their granddaughter was taken to the hospital but was lucky to walk away with a scraped chin and soft tissue damage to her back. In photos from the crash, the heavy backpack the student was wearing left a dent in the driver's side door.

The family is still shaken up by the incident. "This could have been the biggest tragedy ever in our family, and we just had a tragedy in our family seven weeks ago. And you've gotta slow down. The children are important, people are important," Lori Masters said.

WINK News is still waiting for the crash report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office to find out how the driver was cited for the crash. The Masters say it wasn't enough and are hoping that after this crash, people will pay extra attention to the road.

The Masters and School District of Lee County are reminding everyone to slow down, especially in the mornings and afternoons, and to watch for buses and students.