Philly hit-and-run survivor opens up about life after accident

As police comb Philadelphia for a renegade driver who nearly killedStefanie McMillianand her two children in a high-speed hit-and-run, the 30-year-old mother is living in daily fear.

McMillian, a mother of four, was walking her two daughters – Kaitlyn, 5, and Laya, four months – across Broad Street on the afternoon of Feb. 2 when they were hit by a quickly moving car that never stopped.

She was left bloodied and unconscious on the side of the road. Kaitlyn ricocheted off the windshield of what witnesses say was a red car – possibly an older model Honda – and shattered it and the passenger-side mirror.

“I want to know, why couldn’t the person just stop and let us cross the street?,” McMillian told Metro.

“Now, for me, its scary because I don’t want to step out of the house anymore, or cross the street, or do any of that because I always have that image in my head,” she said.“If I cross the street, who is going to hit me? Who’s going to want to get me dead for no reason?”

It was shortly before 1 p.m.that day when McMillian and her kids were crossing Broad Street at Dickinson Street in South Philly when witnesses say the Honda, reportedly driven by a female,came out of nowhere.

McMillian, born and raised in West Philly, was headed to take her older daughter, Kaitlyn, to a doctor’s appointment in South Philly, when she was certain Broad Street was clear in both directions.

“No cars were coming, so I said, ‘Kaitlyn, let’s go. We can go,’” she said.

“Then while we were in the middle of the street, that’s when I saw the red car flying down the street and she just hit us. The next thing I knew I woke up and my husband said, ‘you’re in the hospital.’”

McMillian suffered a concussion and was treated at HahnemannUniversityHospital. Kaitlyn suffered a broken leg and femur and had two screws put in her right knee. Laya suffered a few scrapes. Both were treated at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania and stayed a couple days before being released. McMillian said Kaitlyn’s not able to fully use her right knee until she is examined by an orthopedic surgeon.

Police say the driver of the car in question is still at large.

“I feel sorry for my kids,” said McMillian.

“They take public transportation. I’m always on guard. They’re doing pretty good, and if they see anything [suspicious] they tell me.”

Anyone having any information leading to the arrest of the driver involved in the hit-and-run is asked to call police at 215-685-3180.