Beauty Queen Revisits Crash Site After 4-Year-Old and 6-Year-Old Struck Her

Kiara Bowling, 32, returned this week to the Oakland intersection where she was struck by a car driven by two young children in August. The 32-year-old, who holds the Ms. California Regency International 2026 title, walked through the area where she nearly died while walking a friend's dog. She said she feels blessed to still be able to walk.

The crash occurred when two brothers, aged four and six, took their parents' car keys while their parents slept. Witnesses and police said the children drove at high speed. One child steered while the other worked the pedals. The vehicle sideswiped another car before hitting Bowling and crashing into a home's fence.

Bowling sustained life-threatening injuries, including multiple brain bleeds, a traumatic brain injury, and facial fractures. The dog, Grizzly, was thrown by the collision but survived. Due to the severity of the brain trauma, Bowling has no memory of the impact. She recalled events only from the middle of September, after doctors in the hospital explained what had happened.

Lavelle Shah-Marquis, a bystander who helped Bowling, described the speed of the impact. She said the car came so fast that Bowling had no time to move. Bowling went flying and landed on the pavement before losing consciousness. As she lay unresponsive, bystanders performed CPR and spoke to her until paramedics arrived.

Rita Macina, another bystander, said she told Bowling she would be okay while others performed resuscitation. Macina noted that people often forget that unconscious individuals can hear words. When Bowling revisited the site, several of the same good Samaritans stepped forward to embrace her.

Before the accident, Bowling was completing her final semester at California State University, East Bay. She planned to relinquish her crown in a few months to pursue a career in law. Instead, she spent months in critical care relearning how to walk, talk, and eat.

Doctors estimate her recovery could take up to two years. Bowling said she has no bitterness toward the young children. Asked if she has forgiven them, she said, “Yes, I do forgive them.”