Seventh grader guides bus to safety.
A quick-thinking middle school student jumped behind the wheel when his school bus driver passed out on the way to class Monday morning and drove the bus with 15 other students to safety.
The driver of the school bus reportedly started waving his hands frantically and gasping for air, losing control of the bus. Milton Police Chief Bill Rhodes said seventh grader Jeremy Wuitschick jumped from his seat and took the steering wheel, pulling the bus safely to the side of the road and removing the keys from the ignition.
The local police chief praised Wuitschick for his actions. He told ABC News, “I’ll tell you, I’ll give the kid credit for fast thinking. He did the right thing and we’re going to do something for him. The kid definitely deserves credit.”
Police officers received notification that a school bus was driving erratically through town around 8 a.m. on Monday. By the time an officer arrived, Wuitschick had pulled the bus over in front of Discovery Primary School, which is right next door to their scheduled destination of Surprise Lake Middle School.
Wuitschick told ABC affiliate KOMO, “I knew something was wrong…It was pretty scary. I was just acting on instinct. It was all happening really quickly.”
John McCrossin, a staff member at the school, happened to be driving behind the bus when the driver lost consciousness. He rushed onto the bus and administered CPR once the bus was safely parked on the side of the road, Rhodes said. The kids informed McCrossin that they had called 911 already.
The bus driver was transported to the hospital, suffering from a heart-related problem, according to emergency personnel. School authorities said his condition was “grave.”
The assistant superintendent for the Fife school district, Jeff Short, said the students had been taught how to shut down the bus in an emergency as part of the training they all received in how to handle emergency situations on the school bus.
Source: abcnews.go.com
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