Quick-thinking middle school students in Hancock County, Mississippi, are being called heroes after preventing a possible disaster on Wednesday (April 23). Their school bus driver, Leah Taylor, suffered an asthma attack and blacked out while the bus was traveling on a four-lane highway shortly after leaving Hancock Middle School with about 40 children on board.

Sixth grader Jackson Casnave, 12, was sitting directly behind the driver when he noticed the bus begin to swerve. Casnave immediately jumped up to steer the wheel and told classmates to call for help. Another sixth grader, Darrius Clark, 12, quickly hit the brakes, and together, the two boys managed to guide the bus onto the median and shift it into park.

Darrius’s sister, Kayleigh Clark, 13, ran from the back of the bus to the front and called 911, even though it was difficult to hear the operator because many students were screaming. Fellow eighth grader Destiny Cornelius, 15, noticed that Taylor was holding her nebulizer and helped administer her medicine, while McKenzy Finch, 13, held Taylor’s head steady and answered a phone call from the district’s transportation team to explain what had happened.

Taylor has since made a full recovery and expressed her gratitude, saying, “I’m grateful for my students. They’re the ones that saved my life and everybody else’s on that bus." The students were honored at a school pep rally on Friday and will be treated to a lunch field trip at a restaurant of their choosing.

Hancock Middle School principal Dr. Melissa Saucier praised the students’ quick response, stating, “What they did took courage. They didn’t wait for somebody to step in, they stepped up themselves, and that says a lot about their character.”

No injuries were reported, and the district has not announced any changes to bus safety protocols at this time.

Mark Madden