WHITEHOUSE (KYTX) - A 79-year-old woman plows into the side of the Whitehouse YMCA while kids were inside arriving for day camp this morning.
Those kids and the woman are all just fine.
You can still see tonight the ruts left in the playground where she drove through, and where the doors and wall have now been temporarily repaired.
It was a sight for parents as they picked up their kids from the Whitehouse YMCA Wednesday afternoon.
"In the mornings they're almost always inside getting ready to start activities they're doing, so I think they're very lucky," says Amanda Kitchings, who's 7-year-old son was in the building when the woman hit it.
But she says the staff's quick action put her mind at ease.
"They did a really good job contacting us that they were ok and none of the kids were by the door when it occurred," says Kitchings.
Police say the elderly woman was just trying to park and workout when she hit the gas instead of the brake plowed through the playground and hit the doors.
There's significant damage to the wall, but luckily about 15 kids were all safe because they were on the other side of the gym.
"She was terrified to hit the building. She was coming to exercise, brought a friend to with her to work out," says Stuart Gilpin, the CEO of the Tyler and Whitehouse YMCAs.
As the repairs began, Gilpin checked on the woman, and the nearly 60 kids in the program, after a reminder that anything can happen.
"Out of a small incident that happened they got a good, nice, life lesson out of it," says Gilpin.
"Just to think if the kids were sitting behind the door when the car actually hit it what could have happened," says Kitchings.
Parents obviously concerned, but again, everyone is safe tonight.
Whitehouse police say the woman's license will be reviewed by the Department of Public Safety in Austin.
They are not charging her because it was just an accident.
Five years ago Texas stopped letting drivers 79 or older renew their drivers license by mail or online.
They must now apply for a license in person and take a vision test, and a license for drivers over 85 will expire every two years instead of six.
