Woman hit by car outside school function

NASHUA – A woman attending an after-school literacy night at Bicentennial Elementary School on Thursday night was seriously injured after being struck by an automobile.

The woman was hit around 7:30 p.m. at the road’s crossing with Bicentennial Drive, fire and police officials said this morning.

She suffered a fractured skull, broken leg and other injuries and was treated at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, fire officials said. She has since been transported to a Boston hospital, fire officials said.

Police haven’t released the woman’s name.

Kyle Langille, principal at Bicentennial Elementary School, said the woman was attending the school’s literacy night event along with about 600 other parents and family members.

The woman has three children, two of whom attend the school, and has volunteered there for years, Langille said.

“Delightful, delightful lady,” Langille said. “She has years of service here. I think it’s hit everyone quite hard.”

Not many people in the school knew what was going on outside, Langille said. A city police officer who was reading to kids was called upon to assist at the scene.

The woman’s husband was there and was notified immediately while the couple’s three kids stayed inside, Langille said.

“We didn’t want to alarm them,” she said.

The family had arrived shortly before the accident and Langille theorized the woman had forgotten something in her car. She also suspects Thursday’s rainy weather and the number of cars parked along the streets may have been a factor in the accident.

From what she’s been told, Langille said the woman’s injuries are “extensive” but that she’s expected to recover.

“She is a very familiar face to us,” she said. “She’s one of those parents who gave whatever time she had back to the school.”