A Mississippi community is celebrating five middle school students after they jumped into action to stop their school bus when their driver lost consciousness.
The driver, Leah Taylor, 45, told WLOX she was driving a bus full of students on her usual route last Wednesday when she had an asthma attack and passed out.
“She kind of, sort of, like, fell over, like flopped over, and everyone started standing up,” student McKenzy Finch told WLOX.
The Hancock County School District captured video of the heroic act on the school bus, which KOMO reports had 40 students on board. The bus continued to roll after Taylor passed out.
Quick on their feet, two students took control of the bus while it was moving. One student took over the wheel while another hit the brakes.
“I saw that the bus was veering off to the side, then I grabbed the wheel,” student Jackson Casnave told WLOX.
“The bus started rolling forward. It started like, gaining speed, so when I clicked the brakes, it about threw me out the windshield,” sixth grader Darrius Clark told WLOX.
A third student was quick to help give the driver her medication. Another student called the authorities.
“I saw her medication in her hand, and I saw her reaching for it. I knew that’s what she needed,” eighth grader Destiny Cornelius told WLOX.
The video shows the five students working together until the first responders arrived, and trying to keep the other students on the bus calm.
Taylor told WLOX she thanked each of the students who came to her rescue the next day when she picked them up on the bus.
“I can’t thank these students enough for saving everybody’s life because it could have turned out so much worse,” she told WLOX.
The school’s principal said she wasn’t surprised by the students’ heroic actions.
“They didn’t wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character,” Dr. Melissa Saucier told KOMO.
The students were honored at a pep rally and treated to a lunch field trip at a restaurant of their choice.
“Those kids are heroes and deserve recognition for their actions. Sending them nothing but love,” wrote Liz Heygood on Facebook.
“That girl in pink is gonna be a doctor one day…these kids were raised right for sure!” Emmanuel Garcia added.
“They are truly SUPER HEROES!!” Brenda Kerr cheered on Facebook.
Taylor returned to work the next day. No one was hurt in the incident.
