Four-year-old Armani Francillion was inside the Tattle Tales Learning Center in Pine Hills when an SUV smashed through a wall. His grandmother, Dominique Montgomery, said she rushed to Florida as soon as she heard the news.

“But when I finally was able to see his face in the hospital and he was just smiling and laughing, I didn’t know how to feel,” Montgomery said. “I got all these mixed feelings. But he was there. He made me feel so much better as soon as I instantly seen him smile.”

Montgomery said Armani is now out of the hospital and in good spirits, though the experience has stayed with him.

“Sometimes he’ll just blurt out, ‘The car smash. It hurt,’” she said. “And we showed him the emergency scene, and he remembered those people being there. So it’s just chilling. It’s healing.”

Montgomery said she is grateful the crash was not worse.

“I see people losing their babies and stuff all the time,” she said. “And for him to still be here, I’m beyond grateful.”

The crash left Armani with visible injuries, but Montgomery said seeing him active again has brought the family comfort.

“Seeing him laying in a hospital bed like that, it was him just laying, not moving, in pain. Everything hurt him,” she said. “And now it’s like he was never hurt.”

As of Tuesday, Tattle Tales Learning Center remained closed. Montgomery said the family’s focus now is on Armani’s recovery.