Nurse fatally hit by driver trying to save patient who wandered across 5 Mile

Beloved nurse killed by driver trying to save patient who wandered from care facility

On Sunday night she was working at the Majestic Care facility and when the patient walked out the door and crossed the road - Pebbles went to go get her.

REDFORD TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - A nurse was hit and killed trying to save a patient who had wandered away from a care facility.

On Sunday a patient walked out of the Majestic Care facility on Five Mile to cross the four lanes of traffic. The nurse was bringing that patient back in a wheelchair when she was struck and killed by a passing car.

The victim is Pebbles Latrice Oliver or 'Pebbles' as friends and family called her - a nickname she earned young.

"She was short and really cute," said Tameka Long, a family friend.

Pebbles was also passionate about helping others, coming from a large family and raising three kids herself.

"She was a boss. Like she was going to go get it," said Long. "She was an RN and never stopped."

Pebbles went to go get the patient who had wandered away from the facility.

"The patient was laying on the grass and laying in Five Mile, she was saying some random stuff," said a witness. "The workers were trying to get her off the ground and get her back to Majestic."

As they were crossing back across Five Mile, the tragic accident happened.

"They were getting her back across the street in the wheelchair and a car came down Five Mile and hit the worker, and then ended up hitting two other vehicles," the witness said. "It was a sad, pretty tragic thing to see."

Police say an 80-year-old woman was driving west and swerved to avoid the wheelchair, hitting Pebbles instead.

"With Pebbles, her heart is so big and that’s how she passed away," Long said. "Caring for somebody else."

The news of her death is hard to comprehend for her loved ones who say that she was the one to console others during times of grief, and she had a personality that was larger than life.

"She had her sassiness she was sassy, but she had this charisma about her, and she would joke a lot," Long said. "She was a happy person, and you never saw Pebbles down."

Police say the 80-year-old driver was treated for minor injuries and is cooperating with the investigation. Police don't believe that alcohol or drugs were involved.