North Carolina students jump into action after school bus driver suddenly dies at the wheel, manage to stop bus before it crashed
DAVIE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: A Davie County High School bus driver died while driving kids home on Thursday, forcing the students on the vehicle at the time to take matters into their own hands.
According to school officials, Coleen Gaither became unresponsive at the wheel while en route to drop the kids back home. When the students noticed that something was not right with their driver, they took control of the vehicle and were able to stop it without incurring any injuries to the passengers. They then dialed 911.
Although paramedics arrived on the scene and tried to revive Gaither, they were unable to do so.
Kaelyn Angell, from 10th grade, said that she and her friend were sitting behind the driver at the time of the incident and were the last ones to speak to Gaither before her death.
"We were sitting there, and we were asking her, 'How's your day?' and she said, 'I was having a good day,' " Kaelyn told WUSA9.
She added: "My friend said something about how she was going to go home and eat a Moon Pie. And the bus driver, she said, 'Oh yeah, Moon Pies, I remember those, those were good."
The high school sophomore realized that Gaither was losing consciousness when the bus was nearing Mocksville. "She was trying to stop the bus at our stop. But she couldn't," said Kaelyn. "The first thing we saw was she was leaning against the window... She was just laying there."
Kaelyn said that the students immediately jumped into action as the bus began swerving. A number of them took control of the wheel, pressed the brakes, and activated the emergency brake. Others called 911 and began tending to the driver.
"Everyone in the bus was so worried, and even some people were crying, so it was pretty emotional," said Kaelyn. Another student, who refused to be named, said that her friend performed CPR on the bus driver while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.
On Friday, a rock memorial for Gaither was constructed in front of Davie County High School by the students with messages like "Fly High," and "D.C. Loves You."