By Lori EhdeAn 8-year-old boy is recovering from injuries he received last week when he was struck by a car in Magnolia.Chris DeGroot, a second-grader at Luverne Elementary School was struck Wednesday, May 12, by a 1994 Chevy Lumina driven by Thomas Schwarz, Bigelow. The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. on County Road 4 (Luverne Street) in Magnolia shortly after Chris got off the bus.According to the accident report, Chris darted into the street to avoid a dog that was chasing him.His mother, Jean DeGroot, said Chris had picked up the family’s mail at the Post Office and was walking home when an unleashed Doberman pincher startled him.Schwarz, who was traveling west through town, didn’t see Chris in time to stop before hitting him. The report noted that Chris struck the left front fender of the vehicle, which rode over the ankle region of his lower right leg.The Magnolia first-responders were initially dispatched to the scene, and Chris’ father, Steve DeGroot, also a first responder, got the call on his way home from working at Bayliner Marine, Pipestone."I said, ‘Oh my God. You’ve gotta be kidding.’ The thought in my mind was that I was going to lose my little boy," said Steve, who by that time was still more than 20 miles from home.Also fresh in his mind was the Jan. 22 accident involving 5-year-old Cole Eidem who was struck by a pickup on Highway 75 north of Luverne. Steve witnessed the accident and assisted at the scene. He was quoted in the Star Herald as being shook up by that accident because he also has children and wouldn’t want them to be in that situation."That came to mind," he said. "I saw another couple’s kid get hit by a car, and then my own kid gets hit by a car. It made me wonder what was going on."Chris was taken by Rock County Ambulance to Luverne Community Hospital Wednesday. His parents took him to Sioux Falls that night to see an orthopedic surgeon, who told them the bones were relatively aligned and to take Chris home for a week until the swelling went down.Jean said both bones in the lower part of Chris’ leg were broken, and there are multiple fractures in his foot.Motorist Carole Shorter, Adrian, was the first at the scene and stayed with Chris until help arrived. "We appreciated that she took the time to do that," Jean said. "She sat there and comforted Chris until the ambulance got there."She said its been a long, painful week for Chris, who’s now missed more than eight days of school. "He’s a very active kid, and now he’s cooped up and gets bored easily," she said.The leg was reset Wednesday (yesterday) and put in a cast and Chris may return to school Friday, if he feels up to it, but he’ll remain in a wheelchair for awhile.Four young pedestrians struck since last fallChris is the fourth local child (three of them are Luverne second-graders) to be struck by a vehicle in the past seven months.oOn Oct. 8 last fall, Cole Walgrave, now 8, was struck while crossing the intersection of Main Street and Highway 75 on his inline skates.He suffered a fractured pelvis and missed nearly a week of school recovering from his injuries. He spent time in a wheelchair and then crutches before he could eventually walk without pain.Walgrave had crossed on a green light, and the driver of the car, Jesse Dean Lafrenz, was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian.oOn Jan. 22, Cole Eidem, then 5 years old, was struck by a pickup on North Highway 75 where he and his mother and aunt stopped on the shoulder of the road.They had forgotten a container of toys on top of the car, and when it fell to the ground north of Luverne, they stopped to pick up the contents.Eidem was struck when he stepped into the driving lane of a passing pickup to retrieve one of the toys.oOn April 16, 8-year-old Andrea Woods, Luverne, was struck by a pickup while riding her bike at the intersection of Donaldson and Main streets.Sheriff Mike Winkels witnessed the accident, and said Woods was thrown 60 feet through the air by the impact. She was airlifted to Sioux Valley Hospital, but her injuries were determined to be non-life threatening, and she was back in school a few days later."She’s a very lucky young lady," Winkels told the Star Herald. "I know for a fact she received a pretty good blow to the head, and she was covered with skin abrasions."All four children have reportedly made full recoveries.