A promising 15-year-old top-performing high school student is recovering in hospital with life-altering injuries after being struck by a motor vehicle early Friday morning on Nassau’s Robinson Road. The incident unfolded as Dino Pinto Jr., a student at R M Bailey High School, was forced to flee into the roadway to escape two aggressive dogs that were charging him while he walked along the sidewalk on his way to work. Now, his mother is publicly calling for answers and accountability, saying she is devastated by the driver’s apparent lack of care for her injured son.
Dino, who was heading to a part-time shift at an electric store ahead of starting an official summer placement at the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday, recalled that multiple drivers had already stopped their cars to let him cross the two-lane street when the accident happened around 7 a.m. In an interview from his hospital bed, he explained that one vehicle failed to stop, instead overtaking one of the stationary cars and hitting him before he could get out of the way.
“I lost consciousness immediately after the impact, and the next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed,” Dino said. “I have no memory of anything that happened right after I was hit.”
The crash left the teen with severe soft tissue damage to his face, a fractured bone adjacent to his spine, a broken kneecap and a damaged ankle – injuries that have forced him to cancel his planned summer job and put his preparations for the upcoming school term in September in jeopardy. As he works through the pain of his recovery, Dino said he is relying on his religious faith to pull him through this difficult period and help him get back to his normal routine.
The teen’s mother, Nakaya Knowles, said she got the devastating news from a Good Samaritan motorist who witnessed the crash and stopped to help her son, calling her to share details of the incident. “When I got that call, my heart just sank. I went into complete shock – I threw on whatever clothes I could grab and rushed to the scene, praying the whole way that my son was still alive,” Ms Knowles recalled.
When she arrived, the driver had remained at the scene but stayed inside her vehicle. Ms Knowles said she walked over to the driver to politely request her name and contact information, to clarify how the crash had unfolded. However, she said the driver refused to share any personal details, claiming she did not want to be “harassed” and did not want her name shared publicly on social media, adding that all communication would go through her insurance provider. She told Ms Knowles she was in shock from the incident.
Police officers at the scene assured Ms Knowles they would collect the driver’s information and follow up on the incident. Still, she says the most hurtful part of the entire experience is that the driver has made no effort to reach out, check on Dino’s condition, or even visit him at the hospital.
Wiping away tears, Ms Knowles said: “This is not about money for me. My child is a human being, not a paycheck or an afterthought. You should at least reach out to me, or call the hospital to see if he’s okay. That’s the only thing that’s hurting me this much.”
Dino echoed his mother’s frustration, saying the driver could have avoided hitting him if she had been paying attention and slowed down. “She didn’t have to keep going when all the other cars stopped for me,” he said. “At the very least, she could have apologized. Right now, my eye is covered in bandages, I’m in a cast, and I have a broken bone right next to my spine that could have left me paralyzed.”
The teen added that he is deeply distressed about the impact the injury could have on his schooling when the new term starts in just a few months. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to normal,” he said.
Ms Knowles’ decision to share her story in a live Facebook video has sparked widespread public attention and solidarity. By the time local media outlet The Tribune went to press, the video had already been shared more than 1,000 times, with hundreds of commenters expressing support for Dino and criticism of the driver’s actions.