POTTSVILLE -- A bus crash in July put a field trip on hold.
On Thursday, the children who attend the Hazleton Y.M.C.A day camp finally finished their journey. It was made possible by some caring people.
The children boarded buses and set out for the J.F.K. Pool in Pottsville.
A similar trip was cut short in July when the bus they were on was hit by a tractor trailer on Interstate 81. More than 30 children were treated at the hospital. Pedro Cortes, one of the organizers for Thursday's trip said getting on the bus was important.
"They got back on a bus and they saw it was safe, prehaps with the school year starts they'll feel safe getting back on the bus and help them in the healing process."
Officials said there was a little anxiety as they passed near the crash scene on Interstate 81 near Mcadoo, but that quickly melted away.
A Pottsville police car appeared and gave the buses an escort to the J.F.K. Pool.
One of those who made the trip was staffer Megan Kistler. She still wears a sling. Kistler said it's a reminder of her injury in last month's crash.
"I am doing O.K. I am sore but doing O.K. I'm doing O.K. I am going through therapy right now so it's helping me so we'll see," said Kistler
The first one in the pool was Hazleton Police Chief Frank Deandrea. He explained a joint effort to made the pool trip possible. Deandrea said he shelled out $700 of his own money for the kids.
"The law firm of H.G.S.K. donating the admission to the pool and the pavilion, Frankie`s Pizzeria who donated all the lunches today, my wife and I who donated the buses," said Deandrea.
One of the organizers put it the pool trip was to erase the memory of the school bus crash and replace it with some fun which was stolen from the kids that day.