Penn student struck by vehicle at intersection of 38th and Walnut Streets, taken to hospital

A student was struck by a vehicle while crossing 38th Street at the Walnut Street intersection on Monday night.

Witnesses said the student was walking westbound on Walnut Street when he was struck by a red sedan that had run a red light. The vehicle remained on scene until the student was transported to the emergency room at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

The Division of Public Safety was not immediately available for comment.

One witness, who gave her name as Marie and said she worked at Modern Eye on the 3400 block of Walnut St., said the victim flew “up into the air [and] landed on his head.” The victim sustained a cut to his head and some abrasions, but remained conscious, said bystander Kate Kuhns, a nurse practitioner at Penn Presbyterian who helped the victim initially. After a few moments, he was able to tell Kuhns and other witnesses his name and address.

Several bystanders who witnessed the accident rushed to the victim, supporting him and diverting traffic away from him until police and first responders arrived.

“I saw him get hit and he was trying to get up, and that’s the worst thing to do,” Kuhns said. “You have to keep him down and keep him still and steady and stabilize the neck.”

She added, “The traffic just went around us … I wasn’t even paying attention to the traffic.” Kuhns talked to the victim and braced his head and neck until EMT arrived and removed him from the scene.

College junior Alyssa Zlatkin, a certified EMT and member of the Medical Emergency Response Team, saw the accident from the opposite side of 38th Street.

“I heard a huge bang and then I heard people screaming,” she said. “We were talking to [the victim]. His phone was totally smashed, so I put it in his backpack [and] put his wallet in his backpack,” while another witness called his parents.

Drexel sophomore Guna Yerrabolu, another witness and a certified EMT, helped form a circle of people around the victim to divert traffic.

“Everyone realized something happened,” he said, in reference to passing traffic. “It was in the middle of the intersection, so people would stop for a second…cars over here were completely stopped.”

The victim was conscious and responsive when Penn Police, Philadelphia Police and an ambulance arrived, witnesses said.

This story was last updated on Sept. 12 at 8:37 p.m. Check back for updates.

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