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OUR LUCKY ESCAPE Dragged under a bus

As her mum lifts little Aria into the air, a gorgeous smile lights up her face. It’s hard to believe that a few weeks ago this sweet tot with blonde pigtails and a cheeky grin, and 29-year-old Renée Annan, were both pinned underneath a driverless runaway bus that had careened down a busy central Auckland street. What’s even more remarkable is not only did mother and daughter survive the terrifying ordeal on January 13, but the West Auckland tot miraculously escaped with little more than a few cuts and grazes. In a scene straight They can’t believe they survived the ordeal out of a horror flick, the pair disappeared underneath the enormous people mover, shocking distraught onlookers who feared the mum and her toddler were dead. Resting at her Titirangi home after a spell in hospital, a grateful Renée says she’s still stunned they are alive to tell their story, and are convinced an angelic -

Jumping for joy! James and Renée with their little “miracle”. intervention spared them from tragedy. Says Renée, who works for Rape Prevention Education, “I try not to do the ‘what ifs’ because it’s a rabbit hole, but it is just so miraculous if you think about it. “We didn’t go under a wheel –the bus was stopped by that light pole and it didn’t drag me further. And when I think about Aria being left behind in one spot and me being dragged, it’s just so lucky. I’m not religious but it’s kind of like angels were looking out for us.” Adds Aria’s papa James, 33, who co-parents the 23- month-old, “All my family say our mum was with her. I’ve prayed to her in the past and asked her to look over my daughter while I’m not there. I reckon she was with her.” “She was the angel,” agrees a relieved Renée. The mother-of-one is still nursing road rash wounds on her arms from where she was dragged 20 metres beneath the out-of-control tourist bus. She recalls everything happening so fast –within a split second –meaning there was little time to escape. “My dad, Aria and I went on her first trip on a double decker bus from New Lynn to town,” explains Renée. “We went up to SkyCity for lunch and were walking down the street to catch the bus home. Aria was walking next to me, holding my hand, and I was pushing the pram. “I heard yelling and saw the bus coming down and thought, ‘It’s reversing’, and then I saw it was going kind of fast and I started running. I was trying to pull and pick Aria up at the same time, but then it hit us and there was nothing I could do. “It felt really hot and I felt - - - - - we were both being crushed. Our hands were ripped apart and I was sure that we were both dead. And then I was like, ‘I’m not dead’, and then I was sure she was dead. That was the worst minute of my life,” she tells, reaching for a tissue.

Amazingly, when Renée managed to get out from under the bus, she discovered Aria alive, sitting in the arms of a road worker. “I believe she just stayed in one spot and the bus went over her because she had no serious injuries,” says Renée. “We were quite far apart at the end and I couldn’t see her. The guys who pulled her out could hear her crying and they looked under, and she crawled towards them. Luckily we were both in the middle of the bus, not under the wheels.” Apart from grazes and bruises and a small bump on her head, little Aria escaped unscathed and was discharged from Starship Children’s Hospital within hours. Her devoted papa recounts the emotional moment he entered the hospital’s emergency department, fearing the worst. “I walked into the hospital expecting to see Aria hurt –and there she was riding around on a toy ride-on tractor!” he laughs. “I asked, ‘Is that the same girl that’s been hit by a bus?’ I was like, it can’t be Aria. She saw me and said ‘Papa’. “When I picked her up, that’s when she told me her story: ‘Papa, sore, sore Mamma, bus’, recounting the tot’s heart-wrenching sentence. “That just broke me,” he shares with tear-filled eyes. “In the hospital she’d talk about the bus in her own way -

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Above: Police investigate the sightseeing bus, which finally came to a halt after hitting a traffic light on Victoria Street.

A bandaged and sedated Renée. Below: Aria and granddad Ron just before the accident. -

Covered in tar, Aria is comforted by her gran. -

four or five times a day, but it got less less,” tells Renée. “ thing that would m the most upset wa bandaged arms an worried about me. “There was a we I could hardly inter her except when I w feeding. I just feel so that she has such a rong bond with her dad and her nanny, and people who can step in and be there for her.” Renée and James say they are indebted to the strangers who helped their family that a

and T he m ake he r s seeing my d bein g ee k wh ere ract with wa s breastblessed stro ng cared for them and whanau who have selflessly supported them as they recover at home. “I’ve watched the video of me screaming and it was horrible,” shares Renée. “You can see the guys from the day –the road workers and pedestrians who bravely came to the aid of the stricken pair, setting aside their own safety, th e emergency workers who ca re d fo r th d as no way to know if the bus was stable or what was happening, and all these people were under the bus focused on getting us out. No questions. That was amazing.” With Aria’s second birthday just days away, her parents assive Tiger themed entre to ne that almost didn’t happen. Concludes James, “It feels like a celebration of life. To think she’s been hit by the bus and the way she just holds herself. We’re just so blessed to have her. She’s our little pounamu.” # co nstruction site jump the fe nce and I heard them say, ‘W here’s the baby?’ A few pe ople have talked about how th ere wa s no w ay to kn ow if are preparing a m Who Came to Tea pa rty at her playc e ma rk the miles to n l ‘ Our hands were ripped apart and I was sure that we were both dead ’ -