Step dancer may lose leg

A 12-year-old honor student and step dancer from Springfield Gardens remains in critical condition a week after being struck by a runaway BMW driven by a retired New York Police Department detective.
Sixth grader Rosella Lawrence was waiting to cross the intersection of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and South Conduit Avenue on Thursday, May 10 when a BMW driven by Nora Palmer, 73, jumped the curb and pinned her against a utility pole.
Lawrence suffered a crushed leg in the crash, and was taken to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition. A hospital source confided that despite doctors’ efforts, the leg will have to be amputated.
The Courier Sun has learned that as of Tuesday, May 15, Lawrence had been transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan.
Known to neighbors as “Rosie,” Lawrence reportedly developed a routine of walking to the home of a relative who worked as an aide at her school.
Palmer, a Florida resident visiting family in Queens, was reportedly driving north on Guy Brewer Boulevard about 7:30 a.m., when she lost control of the vehicle. Police have surmised that she may have mistakenly stepped on the gas rather than the brake pedal at that moment, increasing the violence of the crash. No charges were filed.
Palmer was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica with a broken leg and other minor injuries, where she remained in stable condition as of May 15 according to a hospital spokesperson.
P.S. 195 Principal Beryl Bailey was quoted as calling Lawrence, “a wonderful student” who is “great academically and socially.” Bailey said that the family was “taking it hard.”