Quick-thinking middle school students in Mississippi saved their school bus from crashing after their driver lost consciousness while traveling on a four-lane highway.
The bus had just left Hancock Middle School in Hancock County on Wednesday with about 40 children on board when Leah Taylor, 46, had an asthma attack. She reached for the medication but passed out before she could get it.
Within seconds, the students got to work.
Sixth-grader Jackson Casnavi, 12, who was sitting directly behind the driver, noticed the bus starting to swerve. Casnave jumped in to direct and asked the others to call for help.
“I didn’t have time to process my emotions,” Casnavi said. “I just wanted to make sure no one got hurt.”
Another sixth-grader, 12-year-old Darius Clark, slammed on the brakes, and together the two were able to maneuver the bus into the middle of the road and into park.
Clark’s 13-year-old sister, Kaylee, ran from the back of the bus to the front and called 911. She later said she could barely hear the emergency operator because so many students were screaming.
“I was scared, but I had to help too,” said Kaylee Clark, an eighth-grader.
Fellow eighth-grader Destiny Cornelius, 15, also ran to help and noticed Taylor was carrying the nebulizer. Cornelius administered the medication while Mackenzie Finch, a 13-year-old sixth-grader, held Taylor’s head.
Finch also picked up Taylor’s ringing phone and told the area transportation team what happened.
“I am grateful for my students,” said Taylor, who has made a full recovery. “They’re the ones who saved my life and everyone else on that bus.”
The students were honored at a pep rally Friday and will be treated to a lunch field trip next week at a restaurant of their choice.
“What they did took courage,” said school principal Dr. Melissa Saucier. “They didn’t wait for anyone to step in, they stepped up, and that says a lot about their character.”