WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A scary situation in Wilkes-Barre could have been a lot worse. But some quick-thinking high school students saved the day.
It happened on Blackman Street in Wilkes-Barre Township Monday afternoon.
"I looked up front, and I could see the bus driver's face, in his mirror, his head was back. I ran up front and said, are you okay, and he wasn't responding," said Max Filchak, 10th grade.
About a dozen students from Holy Redeemer High School were on the bus when the driver suffered a medical issue and lost consciousness.
"I took his seatbelt off, loosened his jacket and shirt. I tried to talk to him, but he couldn't talk. Then we kept moving back, crushing the car behind us. So I put my hands on the brake, and then Kaden stepped in while I moved him out of the seat," said Ryan Martinelli, 11th grade.
"After Ryan got on the brakes at first on the bus, he started to help the bus driver out. I was on the brakes and turned the bus off," said Kayden Ayre, 10th grade.
Lainey Conway, a sophomore, called for help.
"I kinda looked around and said, well, there's no adults here anymore, so we're gonna have to pick this up. We have to go. There's no one else that's going to be able to do it, so we all just kinda worked together," said Conway.
Once students got the bus in park, the rest was natural instinct.
"I'm part of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. The training that I do with them trains me for situations like this. The Navy is a career I want to pursue, and it really helped me in this situation. It's a big part of what I'll probably end up doing," said Martinelli.
"I am a newly certified lifeguard. Part of my training is that we help people, even if we're not at work," said Filchak.
"I'm just glad we didn't do anything to make it worse. I am just glad that it ended, I think it ended the best possible way it could have ended. So I'm just glad that everyone's okay," said Conway.
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