PLEASANT VIEW, Utah — The day after Christmas, 6-year-old Elliott Ellis and his brother went outside to play.
“He is such a goofy kid. Take a picture of Elliott and he is going to give you the goofiest face,” said Elliott’s aunt, Mary Schulz.
However, that’s when the unthinkable happened.
“My brother Kai called, and he was just crying, two words out at a time and just told me that Elliott got hit by a car,” Schulz said.
His 8-year-old brother Gus saw the whole thing.
“Gus went to the house, got his mom. His mom came out. She started yelling, screaming, and then Gus came in and told my brother,” Schulz said. "They were able to call 911.”
According to the Pleasant View Police Department, it happened in the Evergreen Village Manufactured Home Community. They said the driver, who is not related to Elliott, did not see him cross in front of her.
Elliott got pinned underneath the car, and once the fire department helped pull him out, he was taken to the hospital, where he now remains in critical condition but is stable.
“Biggest concern right now is his lungs. They're just so tired. The doctors did say it's going to get worse before it gets better,” Schulz said. "We're just kind of taking it day by day.”
Elliott has broken bones in his pelvis, ribs, collarbone, and fingers. He’s currently on a ventilator and is sedated.
“Those kids would be like, 'Aunt Mary, want to play Fortnite?' And I'm like, 'I'm still sleeping. It is Saturday…' Sun comes up, that kid is up,” Schulz said. "Seeing him like that, not being able to smile, the twinkle in his eye, you know, just seeing how much pain he is in, like I really do wish, I think all of us, his grandparents, his uncles, me, his aunts, just wish we could take it away.”
Schulz said Primary Children’s Hospital has therapists working with Gus, who witnessed the whole thing. She said what happened stays with her, especially when she gets behind the wheel.
“Since this has happened, I'm like, I don't care what music's playing. I put my phone on silent,” Schulz said. "It's somebody's family and it's someone's baby… The more we can do just to be aware, the more that we can do to just focus on the road, I think would be huge.”
FOX 13 News spoke to Pleasant View Police and asked about prevention. They were unable to go on camera but said there are many speed bumps all throughout the neighborhood, and that the situation was an accident, which remains under investigation.
The family has a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses.
