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Ally Rednour: Girl, 6, dragged more than 1,000 feet after her backpack gets stuck in bus door

The school bus driver, Melinda Sanders, is now facing a civil trial after Rednour’s mother filed a lawsuit against her

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: An old video has resurfaced online showing a very horrifying moment that happened six years ago. The incident happened in 2015 when a school bus driver allegedly failed to follow protocols and dragged a six-year-old girl, Ally Rednour, over 1,000 feet along the road after driving off without noticing that the door had closed on her backpack.

The driver, Melinda Sanders, is now facing a civil trial after Rednour’s mother filed a lawsuit against her in 2018 seeking unspecified damages. It has been said that the footage will be played at Sanders’s trial, who is also accused of breaking 16 rules of her employment as a school bus driver, which included making sure kids get on and off the bus safely.

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Who is Ally Rednour?

At the time when the incident happened, Rednour was six and a first-grader at Wilkerson Elementary School. On May 15, 2015, she was deboarding her school bus when the doors closed on her school bag, leaving her in a very dangerous situation. The surveillance camera inside the bus also showed Sanders not making an effort to check if the child had got safely off the vehicle.

She failed to notice Rednour being trapped and drove off while dragging her for a number of blocks. The footage showed the little girl initially desperately running in an effort to keep up with the speed of the bus before falling and being dragged on the road. As Sanders drove the bus, another student was also seen standing near her. In the video, sometimes she was heard chatting and shouting at some of the students.

However, Sanders eventually noticed her mistake when another vehicle honked at her to get her attention. She then looked at the door and found Rednour in a miserable condition. After stopping the bus, she ran towards the door and said, “Oh my God, Oh my God.”

According to reports, after the incident, the young girl was taken to a hospital, where it was found she had suffered severe abrasions to 12 percent of her body. She had to undergo numerous surgeries. Lawyers representing Rednour’s family said that she was dragged 1,147 feet. They also alleged that Sanders failed to comply with a number of rules.

On Tuesday, July 13, Sanders -- who was fired by the district one month after the epsiode -- took the stand and when questioned what “moment of truth” of “loading and unloading” kids to the bus meant to her, she answered: “It means a lot to me, and I wish, Mr Paulus, that I had followed that, that day. I can't take that day back.” Jefferson County Public Schools school bus driver and trainer Katrina Ferral called the incident “horrible” as she added, “You watch them get off the bus, you close the door. When they're away from the bus, close the door, you look in that mirror and you watch them. They have to be 10 feet away before you pull off.”

Rednour’s surgeon, Dr Sheldon Bond, also testified in the court. The doctor said, “We had some skin loss here and some skin loss there [points to each leg]. This was a very big abrasion which was scrubbed.”

Meanwhile, people on Twitter were also angry after knowing about the case. One user tweeted, “This made me cry! The negligence of people who are suppose to know better & as a community look out for the children isn’t there anymore. People are so caught up in themselves with no common sense & humanity. Bus driver’s job is to get people home safely.”

The second user said, “This is HORRIBLE.  This driver and that kid standing up need to remember this every single day of their lives and  do something to make amends to the world.” “It took her three looks to even slow down. im so happy she survived this what a nightmare. Looks like driver was distracted by a guy standing up she was taking to. They need to just agree/accept anything thrown at them and count their blessings this little one is alive,” the third added.