Five middle school students are being hailed as heroes after they took control of a runaway school bus and helped save their driver’s life when she lost consciousness behind the wheel last week.
The April 22 incident unfolded shortly after Bus No. 22 departed Hancock Middle School in Hancock County with roughly 40 students on board. Driver Leah Taylor, 46, suffered a sudden asthma attack and reached for her medication — but blacked out before she could take it.
Sixth-grader Jackson Casnave, 12, who was seated directly behind Ms. Taylor, was the first to react. Noticing the bus beginning to swerve, he jumped up and seized the wheel.
“I saw that the bus was veering off to the side, then I grabbed the wheel,” Casnave told WLOX. “I didn’t have time to process my emotions. I just wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt.”
As Ms. Taylor briefly regained consciousness and then collapsed again, the bus began rolling forward and picking up speed. Darrius Clark, also a sixth-grader and 12 years old, stomped on the brakes — not realizing the vehicle was equipped with air brakes.
“When I clicked the brakes, it about threw me out the windshield,” Clark said.
Meanwhile, his sister Kayleigh Clark, 13, an eighth-grader, called 911 — struggling to hear the dispatcher over the screams of classmates. Destiny Cornelius, 15, also an eighth-grader, spotted Ms. Taylor clutching a nebulizer and administered the medication. Sixth-grader McKenzy Finch, 13, held Ms. Taylor’s head steady and answered her ringing phone, alerting the district’s transportation team to the emergency.
The five students kept the bus under control until first responders arrived. The Hancock County School District later released bus camera footage showing the chaotic sequence of events.
Hancock Middle School Principal Melissa Saucier praised the students’ composure and character.
“What they did took courage,” Dr. Saucier said. “They didn’t wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character.”
Ms. Taylor, who has since made a full recovery, credited the students with saving everyone on board.
“I’m grateful for my students,” she said. “They’re the ones that saved my life and everybody else’s on that bus.”
The students were recognized for their actions at a school pep rally and are set to be treated to a lunch at a restaurant of their choosing.
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