© ENID ALVAREZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSBrooklyn mom Harriet McNeill is outraged daughter Amore-Virginia Peterson, 13, was pushed off school bus, breaking her collarbone.
Two matrons were on the bus dealing with a ruckus, but neither was able to protect Amore-Virginia Peterson, 13, on Friday. She said that when she slammed into the pavement she thought she "was going to die" - but she managed to scramble out of the road before she was hit by the cars bearing down on her.
The bipolar sixth-grader suffered a broken collarbone and was rushed from the scene in an ambulance.
"I've been telling the school that one of these kids is going to kill my daughter - and on Friday it almost came true," said Amore-Virginia's mother, Harriet McNeill of Brownsville, Brooklyn.
"God saved my daughter this time, but the Board of Education needs to make sure it doesn't happen again," said McNeill, 45, a single mom who works in a counselor's office.
Amore-Virginia's ordeal began as she was riding the bus home Friday afternoon from the Brooklyn Children's Center, a school for disabled kids. A classmate accosted her, spitting on her and throwing books at her, she said.
When one of the two matrons on the bus told Amore-Virginia to move to the back of the bus for safety, the teen obeyed - but then a boy from her class rushed at her.
"He jumped over the seats and pushed me to the back door," said the tearful teen. "Then he pushed the door open and pushed me out. I thought I was going to die."
It wasn't clear how close the matrons were to Amore-Virginia when the push occurred.
Amore-Virginia flew out of the full-size bus onto the pavement in front of Zip Zap barbershop on Mother Gaston Blvd., with her assailant right behind her.
Somehow the two kids clambered out of the street to safety.
Amore-Virginia ran into the barbershop with her tormentor in hot pursuit - but workers stood between the kids until paramedics arrived. "I saw two kids fly out of back of the bus and they both hit the floor," said barber Vincent-Mattos, 45. "She was crying and complaining about her arm."
Amore-Virginia was taken to Brookdale University Hospital, where she was treated for her broken collarbone and bruises. Her assailant was taken home by his mom. A dispatcher at Quality Transportation, which operates the bus routes, said the company is "well aware of what happened," but refused to comment otherwise.
Amore's bus route was affected by the citywide strike that ended Feb. 20, but at least one of the matrons was working the route before the strike, the girl said.
Education officials said that they are looking to put the boy who attacked Amore-Virginia on another route. "The principal is reaching out and setting up meetings with all parents whose children were involved," said spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.
Officials from the Brooklyn Children's Center refused to comment, but Feinberg said that the boy faces disciplinary action there.
McNeill said incident has left her so upset that she wants to change her daughter's school, if only to get onto a different bus route.
"My daughter doesn't deserve to be treated this way," she said.
The girl could have been killed. And it is most likely that the bully will do something like that again, to another victim.