A group of middle school students in Hancock County, Mississippi jumped into action to stop their school bus and save their driver’s life after she suffered a medical emergency behind the wheel.
You know God works through people we least expect. And in this case He used a handful of kids who didn’t think twice about doing what needed to be done during an emergency.
A Scary Medical Episode
Leah Taylor, a 46-year-old bus driver had just left Hancock Middle School on Wednesday, April 22. She was driving along a four-lane highway when she had a bad asthma attack.
She tried to grab her medication but passed out before she could get to it. The bus had 40 kids on it and it started swerving.
“I Just Wanted to Make Sure Nobody Got Hurt”
Jackson Casnave, 12, saw what was happening and grabbed the steering wheel. “I didn’t have time to process my emotions,” he told the Associated Press. “I just wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt.”
Then Darrius Clark, also 12, jumped up and slammed the brakes. “The bus started rolling forward. It started like, gaining speed, so when I clicked the brakes, it about threw me out the windshield,” Darrius said.
The two boys pulled the bus onto a median between the highways and put it in park.
Everyone Had a Role
Darrius’s older sister Kayleigh Clark, 13, called 911. She said she could barely hear the operator because so many kids were screaming. Destiny Cornelius, 15, noticed Taylor was holding a nebulizer and gave her the medication.
“I saw her medication in her hand, and I saw her reaching for it. I knew that’s what she needed,” Destiny said.
McKenzy Finch, 13, held Taylor’s head steady and used the driver’s phone to call the school district’s transportation team.
“They Saved My Life”
Taylor made a full recovery. “I can’t thank these students enough for saving everybody’s life because it could have turned out so much worse,” she said. She told reporters she would think about that moment “all the time.”
A Celebration They Deserve
The students were honored at a pep rally that Friday.
Thank God for enabling these kids to do the right thing in such a desperate situation.
WATCH: Five Middle Schoolers Take Control of School Bus After Driver Passes Out
