By Ivan Pereira and Christina Santucci
A little girl was fighting for her life last week after she, her 5-year-old brother and mother were struck by a car while walking eight blocks to visit a relative in Ozone Park.
Nyla Zaman, 3, was still being treated for severe head trauma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell as of Tuesday for the Oct. 27 accident that took place at 101st Avenue and 81st Street around 6 p.m., according to relatives.
Nyla was walking hand-in-hand with her mother, Nushrat Anjum, and 5-year-old brother, Armaan Zaman, when they were hit by a 2003 Jaguar, police said.
The girl took the brunt of the impact, while the 26-year-old mother was knocked down and hit the boy, according to Ruksana Ara, Anjum’s sister-in-law, who was expecting the family for a visit to her home eight blocks away.
“Nyla was on her [mother’s] lap, blood all over her,” she said.
The driver of the luxury vehicle, who was described by police as a 53-year-old woman, remained at the scene and was not charged by police, according to investigators.
The family was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where Anjum, a Bangladeshi immigrant, and her son were listed in stable condition with head, chest and leg lacerations and Nyla was listed in critical condition with severe head trauma, police said. The girl was soon transferred to New York Presbyterian where doctors placed her in a two-day coma to relieve the stress on her brain, according to Ara.
“They told me in the beginning it was a life or death situation,” she said.
Anjum and Armaan were released from Jamaica Hospital and the mother was able to stay with Nyla in the hospital, according to relatives. Ara said doctors are worried about the long-term trauma the girl may face from her memories of the accident.
“They are trying to make her calm. They want her to relax,” Ara said.
Although he has been recuperating at home, Armaan is already showing disconcerting signs since the accident, according to Ara. The accident is still fresh in the boy’s mind, the relative said.
“He wouldn’t close his eyes. He sees what happened and he opens them,” she said.
The entire family said they are praying that Nyla can make a quick recovery.
“We are just worried about her well-being because we don’t know what is going to happen,” she said. “Nyla is a very cute little girl and everybody loves her.”
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
