Heroic 13-Year-Old Saves Students on School Bus
MILTON, Wash. – A high school student is credited with saving a school bus full of children after driving the bus to safety after the driver passed out at the wheel due to an apparent heart attack.
Jeremy Wuitschick, 13, told Q13 Fox he was riding the bus to school Monday morning when he noticed something was wrong with the driver.
“She starts acting funny,” he said. “His eyes are bulging and he’s twitching in his chair.”
Surveillance video shows Wuitschick’s split-second reaction.
“I just thought, I don’t want to die,” Wuitschick said. “I swerved to the right. I swerved to the side of the road. He took the keys out of the ignition. We started to slow down and I said, ‘Somebody call 911!’
Wuitschick and another student, Johnny Wood, were doing chest compressions by the drivers. A few minutes later, the school administrator also drove by and stopped when he saw the bus on the side of the road. He also attempted CPR on the driver.
Police in the town of Milton, about 30 miles south of Seattle, quickly showed up and escorted the 12 students off the bus.
Although the driver had to be removed from the bus by paramedics, authorities said he was breathing while being transported to the hospital.
“Everyone was asking,” Jeremy said. “‘Hey, there’s a bus over there, what have you done Jeremy?’ I was like ‘Well, I just took the bus to the side.’ Everyone is excited about it!”
Assistant Superintendent Jeff Short told The News Tribune that the 43-year-old driver was in “serious condition” at the hospital. He says students go through emergency procedures several times a year and learn what to do when a bus driver is incapacitated.
Although Jeremy is credited with saving the students and the driver from serious injury, he says he wishes he could have done more to help. He told Q13 Fox that the incident inspired him to learn CPR.
“When something major happens, I look back to see if there’s anything I could have done better,” he said.
