'Dillon Reeves: 'Hero' boy, 13, who stopped school bus after driver passed out says lack of phone kept him alert
WARREN, MICHIGAN: Heroic teenager Dillon Reeves, a 13-year-old student at Warren Consolidated Schools, saved a busload of students from disaster after the driver experienced a medical emergency. Dillon's quick thinking and lack of a cell phone during the incident were crucial in preventing a potential catastrophe.
Seated in the fifth row of the bus, Dillon immediately sprang into action upon noticing the driver losing consciousness. With swift and decisive moves, he rushed to the front and took hold of the steering wheel, expertly guiding the bus to safety and averting a potentially catastrophic accident.
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'It is a powerful lesson'
The remarkable aspect of Dillon's actions was his lack of a cell phone. Speaking about the incident, Dillon Reeves's father Steve told CBC News, "What else are you going to do when you don’t have a phone?" Reeves said. "You’re going to look at people. You’re going to notice stuff. You are going to look out the window." He added, " It is a powerful lesson, maybe change kind of word lesson...I don't know."
The bus driver stated over the radio that he was feeling dizzy while he was taking the pupils home from Carter Middle School just before Reeves intervened to stop injury to roughly 60 students on the bus. "I’m feeling really dizzy," the driver said over the bus radio, according to a report and the circulated video footage of the incident. "I might have to pull over," the driver said moments before losing consciousness as his hands drop off from the steering wheels.
All the students except Dillon were busy on their cellphones
The students who were busy on their phones on the bus also recounted the shocking moment as the driver lost consciousness. "All of a sudden, the brakes got slammed," a student told the outlet. "We all were just terrified and shocked, another student described. One more student said, "That’s when I looked up and saw him." After pulling the brakes on the bus which abruptly comes to a halt, the 7th grader shouted "Someone call 911 now."
'Your son is a hero'
Steve Reeves, Dillon's father also described moments when they received a good phone call from police. As the police asked them, "Are you the parents of Dillion Reeves," to which Steve replied in the affirmative "Yes," but quickly inquired, "What did he do." However, the person on the other said, No, this is a good phone call. Your son is a hero. He stopped the bus." As the revelation took them by surprise, the officers went ahead to explain the events.
'I just knew what to do at that moment'
"I just knew what to do at that moment," Dillion told the outlet. "Bus was swerving off the road." None of the students were injured in the incident and the 40-year-old bus driver was brought to the hospital in "stable" condition, Warren Fire Commissioner Skip McAdams told CNN.
