New Mexico mom, third-grader help stop school bus after driver falls ill
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An alert New Mexico mother sprang into action Monday morning when she watched a school bus roll past her waiting children and was told by one of her kids, “something’s not right with our bus driver,” KOAT.com reported.
Rhonda Carlsen, the parent whose children attend Seven Bar Elementary School in Albuquerque, ran with the bus packed with frightened kids and pounded on its door, trying to get the attention of a third-grader toward the front of the bus. The bus driver appeared to be having some kind of seizure, the station reported.
She instructed the student to pull on a lever near the driver’s seat, the station reported. The student successfully opened the door and she ran into the bus and hit the brakes and turned off the ignition, the station reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The driver was taken to a nearby hospital. The drive also asked about the welfare of the children, who survived the ride unscathed.
"I'm just so thankful that it happened in our neighborhood because it could have been a lot worse if it was on a busy street, or if it happened when they got to school and kids were nearby," Carlsen said, according to the station.