Dramatic video shows the moment quick-thinking Mississippi middle schoolers worked together to stop their school bus from crashing after the driver passed out behind the wheel on a four-lane highway.
Heart-pounding security footage obtained by ABC News shows the five Hancock Middle School students bravely stepping up and bringing the bus to a stop after spotting driver Leah Taylor’s head hanging limply after she suffered a medical episode while barreling down a highway in rural Kiln on April 22.
“She kind of fell over, like flopped over, and everyone started standing up,” one of the brave students, McKenzy Finch, told WLOX.
The footage showed the five working as a team, with each taking a key role to save Taylor and their classmates’ lives.
Sixth-grader Jackson Casnave, 12, said he grabbed hold of the steering wheel after he “saw the bus was veering off to the side.”
Meanwhile, fellow sixth-grader Darrius Clark, 12, 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.
Eighth-grader Kayleigh Clark, Darrius’ 13-year-old sister, dialed 911.
Destiny Cornelius, another eighth-grader, gave Taylor her medicine, which she had in her hand.
“I saw her reaching for it. I knew that’s what she needed,” Destiny said.
The students were celebrated at a pep rally Friday and will be treated to a lunch field trip next week at a restaurant of their choosing.
“I’m grateful for my students,” said Taylor, the 46-year-old driver. “They’re the ones that saved my life and everybody else’s on that bus.”
