Leah Taylor was driving the school bus from Hancock Middle School in Hancock County on Wednesday with about 40 children on board when she began to struggle, according to the Associated Press. Taylor reached for her asthma medication, but she blacked out before she could take it, AP reported.
In the seconds that followed, the students noticed the danger and acted. Sixth grader Jackson Casnave, sitting directly behind the driver, saw the bus start to swerve, jumped up to steer, and told others to call for help, AP reported.
As the bus continued to move out of control, another student helped slow and stabilize it. Darrius Clark hit the brakes, and together Casnave and Clark maneuvered the bus onto a median and put it in park, AP reported.
AP reported that Kayleigh Clark, an eighth grader, ran from the back of the bus to the front to place the 911 call after the students realized Taylor was unresponsive. She later said she could hardly hear the emergency operator because many students were screaming.
While help was being requested, other students provided immediate medical assistance. Destiny Cornelius, also an eighth grader, ran to Taylor and administered the nebulizer that Taylor had been holding, AP reported, while McKenzy Finch, a 13-year-old sixth grader, held Taylor’s head.
Taylor later said she had made a full recovery, and she credited the students for what happened. “I’m grateful for my students,” Taylor said, according to AP. “They’re the ones that saved my life and everybody else’s on that bus.”
Apep rally honors and follow-up plans came after the incident. The students were honored at a pep rally Friday, and AP reported they will be treated to a lunch field trip next week at a restaurant of their choosing.
Principal Dr. Melissa Saucier praised the students’ actions and their sense of responsibility during the emergency. “What they did took courage,” Saucier said, according to AP. “They didn’t wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character.”