MURRAY, Utah — Alina Yourzek loves to do makeup, listen to music and hang out with her friends.
“I've always kind of avoided getting a car so I can just, like, walk around and do my own things and adventure,” she said.
The 16-year-old was preparing to join the National Guard when she turned 17.
“I was going to join the National Guard just because my mom's brother, he's like the closest I've ever had to a big brother, he joined the Army, and I've always been kind of inspired by him,” she said.
However, that dream is now shattered–along with her leg–after she was hit by a car in a crosswalk.
“It was just a mess,” said Elizabeth Yourzek, Alina’s mother. “It was terrifying. That's like, every parent's worst nightmare, to get that phone call.
Before crossing Murray Blvd., Alina pressed the button, waited for the signal, then stepped off the sidewalk, she said. She was barely in the road when she got hit.
“When I started walking, there was 20 seconds on the crosswalk,” said Alina. “And this cop like, turned and almost hit me, and I backed up, and I turned away because I looked at the cop, and then the lady she hit me. And I like flipped up on the windshield and lost consciousness.”
Alina’s brother was also hit by a car in Murray recently, said Elizabeth.
“He was at a light, pressed the button, waited until he sees the little guy that says, like, ‘It's your turn to walk,’ and starts walking, and a car is not paying attention, hits him, sends him flying clear across the intersection, 20 feet,” she said.
Elizabeth Yourzek is frustrated after two of her kids have been hurt at the hands of Utah drivers.
“I can't trust them walking to school because I can't trust other drivers to do what they're supposed to,” she said. “They're in a hurry to get nowhere fast. It's like, you're going to end up killing someone.”
Alina feels lucky to be alive but is still devastated that she won’t be able to walk for two months.
“If you end someone's life, there's no time to fix that, or if you hurt someone, no time to fix that,” she said. “We have all the time in the world.”
The Yourzeks have a gofundme dedicated to raising money to pay for Alina’s surgery.
