An eighth-grade Wisconsinite is being hailed as a hero after grabbing hold of the wheel of his school bus after the driver lost consciousness.
His heroics have earned him plaudits from the mayor’s office, city council, fire and rescue, and the police department, and the young man has said the incident has made him feel more confident.
It started when Acie Holland III boarded his school bus as per his normal routine in April. He joked with the bus driver for a moment, then she put on some headphones, and the bus rumbled off.
Holland though told CNN he understood something wasn’t right when the driver began to appear dizzy. Soon after, her head dropped, but the bus continued to accelerate past a turn on the route.
“She turned the corner and there’s another street that we usually turn on. She pressed the gas and went past the corner, and I looked up,” Holland said.
Coming to the front, he found the driver unresponsive and the bus veering into oncoming traffic.
In what he later described as a fight or flight situation, Holland moved the driver aside, took the wheel and safely parked the bus on the side of the road, calling 911 after it had come to a halt and telling each student to call their parents.
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The driver had suffered a medical emergency and would eventually have to go receive treatment, CNN reports. At first, Holland’s father, Acie Holland II, wasn’t sure if his son was telling the truth, but when it did eventually become clear, Holland Sr. said he wasn’t surprised.
“He’s always been a person where he’s real quick on his feet. That’s one of my things that I know he’s capable of, not on the school bus, but just in general, being able to help someone in need,” Holland Sr. told CNN. “But I am proud of what he did.”
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Mr. Holland II owns a garage, and Holland III says it’s around the shop that he had grown accustomed to the functions of automobiles enough to feel confidant grabbing the wheel of that bus.
The school said that Holland’s leadership and compassion is something they witness daily, but that April’s incident took it to the “next level.”
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