{"id":252078,"date":"2026-04-30T04:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T04:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252078\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T04:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T04:45:17","slug":"11-year-old-boy-speaks-out-after-being-released-from-hospital-following-crash-in-miami-gardens-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252078\/","title":{"rendered":"11-year-old boy speaks out after being released from hospital following crash in Miami Gardens – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) – An 11-year-old boy who was struck by a car while walking to school<\/a> in Miami Gardens is now out of the hospital and speaking to 7News about the terrifying incident. <\/p>\n

Johnny Baptiste Jr. is now recovering at home after being released from Jackson Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi everyone, I\u2019m doing better, and thank you for your support,\u201d said Baptiste in a video message posted shortly before his release.<\/p>\n

Baptiste spoke with 7News at his home, and said he felt traumatized after the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling glad to be home, and like I don\u2019t feel good at the same time, because of my accident,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Baptiste showed 7News the bandages he has on his body, covering injuries on his head, legs and arms. He also said he remains in pain and felt uneasy about walking again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of traumatized so I might not walk, or I might walk next week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the young boy had a nightmare of a morning when, Miami Gardens Police say, a car was traveling southbound at a high rate of speed when he swerved onto the swale to avoid slow traffic and crashed into a tree and struck the child.<\/p>\n

Surveillance cameras captured audio and video of the crash.<\/p>\n

The driver, who police identified as 23-year-old Jalen Darius Forbes, was arrested and charged with reckless driving.<\/p>\n

At the time of the incident, the boy was walking with his cousin to school as he does every morning, according to his family.<\/p>\n

Baptiste recounted the events of the crash that left him in serious but stable condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and my cousin were going to school, and then we went on the sidewalk, and then my cousin tried to tell me that a car was speeding. And then, before he could tell me, it was too late and I got hit,\u201d said Baptiste.<\/p>\n

He shared his message to other drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re the driver, be careful, because its a school zone. So slow down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The child\u2019s mother, Shakera Rolle, spoke with 7News on Tuesday over the phone from her son\u2019s hospital room and shared her own message for the driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hurt about the whole situation. You know, my son was just on the way to school, and I just wish he paid more attention to the road because there is a school zone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s grateful that her son is home and on the road to recovery.<\/p>\n

Forbes has since bonded out of jail.<\/p>\n

As for Baptiste, it may take a week of recovery before he could return to school.<\/p>\n

Baptiste\u2019s family have set up a GoFundMe to help with medical costs.<\/p>\n

To donate, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) – An 11-year-old boy who was struck by a car while walking to school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-252078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}