Ala. Student Stops Runaway School Bus to Save Lives

The driver of the bus had a medical emergency and lost control of the vehicle.

An Alabama teen’s quick thinking is being praised after he stopped a school bus filled with children from crashing last month.

Pell City officials say high school senior Jesse Frank’s actions may have saved all 38 children on board the bus, many of whom were elementary school students, according to wiat.com.

The incident began when a school bus driver began having a medical emergency behind the wheel.

“I looked back at her and she had her head rolled back, hands off the steering wheel, and I was like, yeah, I should do something,” Frank says.

Frank ran to the front of the bus as children were panicking all around him and steered the bus off the road, using his hand to press down on the brake pedal. He then called 911 and waited for help to arrive.

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The heroic teen is also being credited with comforting the younger children on the bus after the incident.

“There were several elementary students crying. One of them asked to borrow my cell phone to make a phone call to their parents,” Frank says.

It was later confirmed the bus driver suffered a nondisclosed medical emergency and is expected to make a full recovery.

Pell City High School Principal Tony Dowdy says he was not surprised that Frank was the one who took action. Frank is an ROTC student in Pell City High and is expected to graduate in May.

Frank was also presented a key to the city by Pell City Mayor Bill Pruitt Feb. 21.

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