Israel: Bus passengers narrowly saved after driver suffers sudden cardiac arrest

A group of schoolgirls narrowly escaped catastrophe Thursday morning after their bus driver suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. 

The group was on their way to school in the Gush Etzion area of Judea when one of the students noticed the driver suddenly become incapacitated near the Gush Etzion Junction. Reacting quickly, the girl was able to reach the brake in time and stopped the bus. All students disembarked and were transported safely into another vehicle.

Gush Etzion officials say the driver is in critical condition. 

A similar incident happened in September when a school bus driver in Provo, Utah was saved by his granddaughter after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while operating the bus. The young girl was able to shift the gear into neutral and then reach the brake.

Frontline News reported a similar incident earlier this year in Michigan when a bus driver suddenly fell unconscious due to a “medical emergency.”

Dillon Reeves, a seventh-grade student at Carter Middle School, and over 60 other children were traveling home on a school bus when the driver suddenly “became lightheaded and lost consciousness.” Reeves quickly moved to the front of the bus, grabbed the steering wheel and regained control of the vehicle while instructing other pupils to dial 911.

Warren Consolidated Schools Superintendent Robert Livernois said he received a call from the driver just prior to the incident saying she was feeling ill and would be pulling over. After failing to do so, Reeves, who was sitting five rows behind the driver, committed his act of heroism.

In a similar incident last year, fifth-grader Sujaan Singh saved a school bus full of other children in Reminderville, Ohio after the driver suffered a “medical emergency.”

In September, a 53-year-old school bus driver in India suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while operating a bus. As many as forty children were saved when the driver managed to stop the bus in the second before he lost consciousness. He was later pronounced dead.

In April last year a 15-year-old medical response volunteer saved the life of a school bus driver while he was in the throes of a cardiac arrest. The driver managed to stop the bus in the middle of an intersection before losing consciousness.