A group of middle school students in Mississippi averted a potential disaster when their school bus driver lost consciousness due to an asthma attack while driving on a highway. The incident occurred on Wednesday after the bus departed from Hancock Middle School in Kiln, Mississippi.
Driver Leah Taylor, 12-year-old Jackson Casnave, noticed the bus swerving and grabbed the steering wheel. 'I didn't have time to process my emotions,' Casnave told the Associated Press. 'I just wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt.'
Fellow sixth-grader Darrius Clark attempted to apply the brakes as the bus gained speed. 'I didn't know it had air brakes – so when I clicked the brakes it about threw me out the windshield,' Clark said. The two boys managed to steer the bus into the median and bring it to a stop.
Clark's sister, 13-year-old Kayleigh, called 911 amid screaming passengers. 'I was scared,' she recalled. 'But also I had to help.' Another student, 15-year-old Destiny Cornelius, found Taylor's nebulizer and administered it to the driver. McKenzy Finch, 13, held Taylor's head and answered her ringing phone to inform the school district.
Emergency responders arrived and treated Taylor, who has since recovered. 'They saved my life,' Taylor said. The students were honoured at a school pep rally on Friday. 'I'm very proud of them,' Taylor added. 'I couldn't ask for any of my other students than my students on my bus.'
