BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. -- A Tennessee 5-year-old will live after being run over by a car driven by the family dog.

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While the Sipe family loaded their blue van with some scrap wood in the family's back yard on Tuesday, Widget, the family mutt, made a run toward the idling vehicle. The driver's side door was open.

"The dog jumped in, landed on the gas (pedal), the car door knocked Kalli down, and the van tire drove completely over her body," said the little girl's mother, Keyna Sipe. "It rolled from here, completely down her chest."

Kalli suffered bruised lungs, a small puncture in one lung and scrapes all over her body. Tire tread marks were still visible on her side after she returned from being treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

"I heard the engine running, and I turned around to look, and I just remember screaming, 'No!'" Keyna Sipe said.

Immediately after the accident, Keyna Sipe had to chase down the van and stop it by pushing her hand on the brake pedal.

She said she's not sure how the vehicle changed gears. She thought it was in park when she got out of the van.

The Blount County Sheriff's Department confirms her story. In their report, Deputy Patrick Pearson said the dog hit the gas and sent the vehicle into reverse over the top of Kalli Sipe.

While the Sipes say they were initially pretty upset with Widget, who is still a puppy, they're now ready to welcome him back into the family.

"We're going to take him to driving school," Keyna Sipe said.

All that's left now is to have the fifth birthday party that was pre-empted by the strange accident.

"Everybody gathered to sing Happy Birthday in the emergency room," Kalli said.