MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Two families are thankful to be laughing again.
"We have some tough, stubborn ladies here for sure," said Chris LaMotte.
Those ladies, their daughters: best friends Annie LaMotte and Kaia Bollmann, both 14, both 8th graders at St. Francis, both lucky to be alive.
Tuesday, Annie and Kaia were walking across the highway, in the crosswalk, when..
"Annie said - 'Dad, we did everything right. The lights were flashing, we were in the intersection, and the next thing we know it was headlights,'" said LaMotte, Annie's Dad.
Annie and Kaia were hit, and Kaia wasn't breathing. With time ticking, two strangers - both to the kids and to each other - stopped to help, teaming together to give Kaia CPR.
"She did like 30 compressions and she started breathing," said Jill Kelley, Kaia's Mom. "They both saved my daughter's life otherwise there's a chance that she may not be here today."
The best friends are together at HCMC. Annie's in serious condition, although she's talking and hopes to be out soon. Kaia, though, has a skull fracture and brain swelling, and she isn't awake.
"You know, there's been squeezing of fingers and kind of blinking, her eyes aren't open but blinking of her eyelids, so that gives me hope," said Kelley.
The families also hope something's done about that intersection. They say - that walk is routine, more than a hundred kids at St. Francis Middle School make it everyday. So, they've started a petition at "Change.org," and have more than 82-hundred online signatures already.
"If there had been a walking bridge our children would not be here in this hospital right now," said Lisa LaMotte, Annie's Mom.
The driver is a 62-year-old man from Isanti. Authorities say - alcohol, texting, or speeding weren't factors in the crash and they're not expecting charges.
"My faith tells me I need to pray for that man," said Chris LaMotte.
"Yeah, I can't imagine how he's feeling," said Lisa LaMotte.