Five quick-thinking schoolchildren prevented a potential disaster after their school bus driver passed out at the wheel on a four-lane highway in Mississippi. Driver Leah Taylor, 46, suffered an asthma attack shortly after leaving Hancock Middle School with 40 children on board. She reached for her medication but lost consciousness before she could take it, leaving the bus hurtling down the highway.
In a matter of seconds, students sprang into action. Jackson Casnave, aged 12, was sitting directly behind the driver when the bus started to swerve. He grabbed the wheel while telling others to call for help. 'I didn't have time to process my emotions,' he said. 'I just wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt.'
Meanwhile, Darrius Clark, also 12, hit the brakes, and the two children brought the bus to a stop on the central reservation. Darrius’ sister, Kayleigh, 13, ran from the back of the bus to the driver and called emergency services. She said she could hardly hear the operator over the sound of children screaming. 'I was scared, but also I had to help,' she said.
Another eighth grader, Destiny Cornelius, 15, spotted that the driver was holding a nebulizer for treating asthma symptoms and gave her the medicine. McKenzy Finch, a 13-year-old sixth grader, held Taylor's head steady and answered her ringing phone to inform the school district transportation team of the incident.
Driver Taylor has now made a full recovery. She said: 'I'm grateful for my students, they're the ones that saved my life and everybody else's on that bus.' The school held a pep rally on Friday to honour the brave students, who will also be taken on a lunch field trip next week at a restaurant of their choosing. Principal Dr. Melissa Saucier said: 'What they did took courage. They didn't wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character.'
