Mississippi schoolchildren, 12, save dozens of lives as bus driver passes out

Quick-thinking schoolchildren stopped a potential disaster after the driver of their school bus passed out at the wheel on a four-lane highway. Driver Leah Taylor, 46, suffered an asthma attack at the wheel shortly after leaving Hancock Middle School in Hancock County, Mississippi , with 40 children on board. She reached for her medication but lost consciousness before she was able to get it, leaving the bus to hurtle down the highway. But in a matter of seconds, students sprang into action to avert disaster. Jackson Casnave, aged just 12, was sitting directly behind the driver when the bus started to swerve. Plucky Jackson jumped to the rescue, grabbing the wheel while telling others to call for help. "I didn't have time to process my emotions," he said. "I just wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt." Meanwhile Darrius Clark, another sixth-grader, also aged 12, hit the brakes and the two children were able to bring the bus to a stop on the central reservation during the hair-raising incident on Wednesday. Darrius’ sister, 13-year-old Kayleigh ran from where she was sitting at the back of the bus to the driver and called emergency services. She said that she could hardly hear the operator over the sound of children screaming. "I was scared, but also I had to help," eighth grader Kayleigh said. Another eighth grader Destiny Cornelius, 15, also came to the rescue, spotting that the driver was holding a nebulizer for treating asthma symptoms. Destiny was able to give her the medicine while McKenzy Finch, a 13-year-old sixth grader, held Leah Taylor's head steady. McKenzy was also able to answer driver Leah’s phone which was ringing and told the school district transportation team what had happened. The driver, who has now made a full recovery, said: “I'm grateful for my students, they're the ones that saved my life and everybody else's on that bus." The school held a pep rally on Friday to honour the brave students who saved the bus and they are being taken on a lunch field trip next week at a restaurant of their choosing. Principal Dr. Melissa Saucier said: "What they did took courage. They didn't wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character."