Mississippi middle school students stop bus from crashing after driver blacks out
Quick-thinking Mississippi middle school students saved their school bus from crashing after its driver passed out 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 looked for her medicine but passed out before she could get it.
Within seconds, the students took action.
Sixth-grader Jackson Casnave, 12, who was sitting directly behind the driver, noticed the bus starting to swerve. Casnave jumped to lead and told the others to call for help.
“I didn’t have time to process my emotions,” Casnave said. “I just wanted to make sure no one got hurt.”
Another sixth grader, Darrius Clark, 12, hit the brakes, and together the two managed to maneuver the bus onto a median and park it.
Clark’s sister Kayleigh, 13, 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 also had to help,” said eighth-grader Kayleigh Clark.
Eighth-grader Destiny Cornelius, 15, also ran to help and noticed Taylor was holding a nebulizer. Cornelius administered the medication while McKenzy Finch, a 13-year-old sixth-grader, held Taylor’s head.
Finch also picked up Taylor’s phone, which was ringing, and told the district’s transportation team what had happened.
“I’m grateful for my students,” said Taylor, who has made a full recovery. “They’re the ones who saved my life and everyone else is 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 principal Dr. Melissa Saucier. “They didn’t wait for someone to intervene, they intervened themselves, and that says a lot about their character.”
