LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – A 15-year-old girl got hit by a car as she was walking to her school bus stop.

This happened in Lehigh Acres on 23rd Street Southwest.

On Monday morning Viviana woke up, got ready for school, and started walking to her bus stop doing the same thing she and hundreds of other kids on her street do every morning.

That’s when a car came barreling down the road, driving over the white line running her over and throwing her several feet.

The driver immediately took off and a bystander chased the driver until she stopped her car and told her to wait until deputies arrived.

Viviana said, “I tried to stop the cars coming in traffic and nobody would stop, so I kind of was like, ‘ok I have to go home and get help,’ and I walked home.”

She said her parents woke up and called 911. Viviana was taken to the hospital where she’d spend the next few days fighting for her life in the ICU.

Viviana was released from the hospital on Wednesday but is still recovering at home. She said she plans on going back to school on Tuesday and finishing her last week of ninth grade strong.

Viviana said, “This whole incident has been very traumatizing for me and I don’t really, I haven’t really gone outside or anything to kind of make me remember all of that.”

An LCSO report said the driver who hit Viviana was 20 years old. She told deputies that didn’t know she ran over a child, and thought she hit a mailbox. The report said the driver also stated that she saw a spider in her vehicle and got very nervous. Deputies issued the driver a citation for careless driving. No arrests were made.

“I do believe in forgiveness, and I think that the world needs a lot of that right now. I do think she should get punished for what she did because at the end of the day, it is not just me who goes to school on a bus. Also, there are 7-year-olds 8-year-olds there are 10-year-olds who walk the street every day and from what I’ve heard after I got hit is that there have been many kids who have gotten hit and people have run from the scene, said Viviana.

Viviana’s parents, Yuni and Erick Peña said their oldest daughter almost lost her life. They want to make sure something is done so this doesn’t happen to another child.

“Somebody can just hit a child and say that they didn’t know it was a child and get away with it and she said oh because I saw a spider inside the car I think I hit the mailbox. Even if you hit the mailbox lady you have to stop,” said Yuni.