Beauty queen returns to scene where she was mowed down by drivers aged 4 and 6

A California beauty queen has spoken out for the first time after surviving a horrific crash in which two young boys took their parents’ car and plowed into her.Kiara Bowling, 32, returned to the Oakland intersection where she nearly lost her life while walking her best friend’s dog in August.“I feel blessed to be here and to still be able to walk,” Bowling said.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story “It feels good that I survived this, because this looks like a situation where an incident happened that was very traumatic and probably didn’t have any survivors.”The near-fatal crash unfolded when two brothers, aged 4 and 6, took their parents’ car keys while their parents were asleep. According to witnesses and police, the pair drove at high speed — with one child steering while the other reportedly worked the pedals — sideswiping another vehicle before slamming directly into Bowling and crashing into a home’s fence.The impact left Bowling unconscious on the pavement with life-threatening injuries, including multiple brain bleeds, a traumatic brain injury and facial fractures. The dog, Grizzly, was also hurt after being thrown by the collision, but survived.Because of the severe brain trauma, Bowling has no memory of the crash itself.“I don’t have any recollection of this area, when it happened,” she said.“I really don’t have recollection until the middle of September.

In the hospital, my doctors had to let me know what happened.”Lavelle Shah-Marquis, a bystander who rushed to her aid alongside others that morning, reconnected with Bowling via FaceTime and described the sheer force of the collision.“You didn’t have enough time to even get out the way,” Shah-Marquis said.“The car came so fast behind you and hit you and the ...