A group of middle school students in Mississippi became unexpected heroes Wednesday when their bus driver lost consciousness from an asthma attack while driving on a highway. What could have ended in disaster instead became a story of quick thinking and calm under pressure from children aged 12 to 15.
The incident unfolded shortly after the bus left Hancock Middle School in Kiln. Driver Leah Taylor suffered a severe asthma attack and passed out, causing the bus to swerve across the road.
Sixth-grader Jackson Casnave, 12, spotted the danger immediately. He grabbed the steering wheel and fought to keep the vehicle under control. "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 moved to the brake pedal as the bus picked up speed. The effort nearly threw him forward. "When I clicked the brakes it about threw me out the windshield," Clark said, explaining that he hadn't realized the bus had air brakes that required a different touch.
The two students managed to slow the vehicle and steer it safely into the median, bringing it to a stop. Kayleigh Clark, Darrius's 13-year-old sister, immediately dialed 911. The call center was barely audible over the screams of frightened students. "I was scared," she said. "But also I had to help."
Other students sprang into action as well. Fifteen-year-old Destiny Cornelius discovered that Taylor still held a nebulizer and used it to help the unconscious driver. McKenzy Finch, 13, cradled Taylor's head and answered her ringing phone to alert the school district about the emergency.
Paramedics arrived shortly and provided medical care. Taylor has since recovered from the incident. The school district recognized the students for their heroism at a Friday pep rally.
Taylor expressed profound gratitude for her students' actions. "I'm very proud of them," she said. "I couldn't ask for any of my other students than my students on my bus. I love every single one of them. I'm gonna think of how they saved my life."
Author James Rodriguez: "These kids didn't freeze, didn't panic, and didn't wait for an adult to fix it, and that's exactly what separated a routine Wednesday from a tragedy that could have been devastating."
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