There were five elementary school students headed home from Northwood ABC Elementary School when their driver became incapacitated Wednesday afternoon. But the students were quick to react, just like they'd been taught.
The bus driver appeared to have suffered from "some type of medical emergency," Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Renee Oistad said. She did not immediately know the condition of the bus driver.
None of the students suffered any injuries, Oistad said.
Sixth-grader Natalie Vandyke said none of the students noticed when their driver first missed their turn. "It's not really anything we pay attention to," she explained.
Then the school bus, headed southbound, began to drift off of the road near Minnesota Drive and Tudor Road.
"The wheel was on the snow or sidewalk, or something," Vandyke said. "We thought it was OK, she accidently does that sometimes. Then this boy was yelling (the bus driver's name) and then I looked at her and her head was banging on the window so I called 911."
Vandyke said her mom gave her a cellphone for emergency situations.
"She said if anything bad happens call 911. It was bad so that's what I did," Vandyke said.
Meanwhile, fifth-grader Braydon Jackson said he worked to reassure the other upset children.
"Everyone was looking at me and depending on me," Jackson said. "Everyone was crying. I told them 'don't worry because the crash won't kill us.' We were not going to fast enough speed to do that."
The bus eventually came to a stop when it rear-ended a semitrailer, the students said. Within a couple of minutes police were on scene. And a short time later, emergency responders walked the children the rest of the way home.