Local

Medical condition cause of Washington Co. school van accident

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — Family members said weather was not to blame in a school van accident in Washington County on Tuesday.

Two young girls and their grandmother were hurt when the grandmother passed out at the wheel. Family members told Channel 11's Cara Sapida that the woman is anemic.

Police said the accident happened around 8 a.m. on Honor Street in Long Branch Borough.

“They were on their way to school and the van driver, which is their grandmother, hit a tree,” said the girls' mother Misty Danko.

According to police, the driver lost control, crossed the center line, hit a tree and flipped.

The Dankos were headed to California Elementary School in the van driven by their grandmother, 61-year-old Joyce Matty. Jasmine said she rushed to her grandmother’s aid after the crash because she was unconscious.

“I just got out of my seat belt, and I tried to wake her up,” Jasmine Danko said.

“When the bus tipped over, glass went everywhere and cut her everywhere,” Mikayla Danko said about her grandmother’s injuries.

Mikayla Danko, 6, was taken to Mon Valley Hospital with a neck injury and fear of internal bleeding. She was then transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital as a precaution.

Danko’s older sister, 9-year-old Jasmine, suffered bruises from the seat belt in the crash.

Both girls have been released from the hospital.

Matty was rushed to an area hospital with several broken bones and head injuries.  Matty is expected to undergo surgery on Wednesday.