Not all heroes wear capes. In fact, some are just barely out of elementary school.
Such is the case for a Michigan Grade 7 student, Dillon Reeves, who is being hailed a hero for bringing his school bus to a safe stop after the driver lost consciousness.
Reeves, a student at Lois E. Carter Middle School in Warren, Mich., was riding home from school on the bus Wednesday afternoon when he noticed the bus begin to veer into oncoming traffic.
“Someone call 911. Now!” he can be heard shouting in a surveillance video that was captured from above the driver’s head.
Moments before, the driver was seen fanning herself with a baseball cap and alerting the transportation office that she was feeling unwell and needed to pull over.
Seconds later, Reeves, who was seated five rows back, “jumped up from his seat, threw his backpack down, ran to the front of the bus, grabbed the steering wheel and brought the bus to a stop in the middle of the road,” said Robert D. Livernoist, Warren Consolidated Schools superintendent, at a news conference.
Not only was he able to bring the bus to a safe stop, said Livernois, but he also maintained control.
“He had the wherewithal to push (the brake) slowly, likely in anticipation that the bus was full of passengers. So despite the justifiable panic on the bus, you could imagine this is probably a 66-passenger bus and it was full at the time.”
Warren Fire Commissioner Skip McAdams told CNN the unnamed bus driver, a 40-year-old woman, regained consciousness when first responders arrived. She was uninjured in the incident, but remains in hospital while doctors determine what caused her to pass out.
Local councilman Jonathan Lafferty applauded Reeves on Facebook, expressing his admiration for Reeves’ quick thinking.
Reeves declined to speak to reporters Thursday, but his parents, Steve and Ireta Reeves, expressed their pride in their son.
“We’ve got a little hero,” Steve told reporters. “He’s been on my lap driving country roads, pulling into driveways since about four years old. … He’s a good driver.”