'I just wanted to get the bus to stop': 8th grader takes the wheel during Glendale bus driver's medical emergency

 

GLENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Teachers and students at a Glendale middle school are celebrating one of their own, after he helped his peers in a dangerous situation.

"I just try to stay calm and just process everything while it's happening," said Acie Holland, an 8th grader at Glen Hills Middle School.

Holland's ability to stay calm kept a bus full of students safe on Wednesday afternoon, when their driver had a medical emergency.

"It looked like she was just dazed a little bit, and then her head just fell into the steering wheel," Acie said.

On the school bus ride home, he noticed his bus driver was unconscious, and the bus veered into oncoming traffic.

That's when Acie jumped into action.

"I was able to move her a little bit out the way, so I was able to grab the steering wheel and get control of the pedal," Acie explained. "I just wanted to get the bus to stop and make sure everybody was okay."

He was able to stop the bus at a curb near 26th and Villard, by his own bus stop.

"I told the kids, one of my friend's brothers, to tell everybody to call their parents and call the police, and then I ran home and got my Grandma," Acie said.

His grandmother is a nurse. When she arrived at the scene, the driver had woken up and called dispatch.

Paramedics came, and the bus company sent another driver to finish the route.

Acie's principal, Anna Young, said he's always been a great student, but her respect for him is now at a new level.

"This is truly amazing that he was able to stay calm and think that through in a really tough situation," Young said Thursday.

His confidence behind the wheel comes from his father and grandfather, both of whom are car mechanics.

They're training Acie to be the same.

"We might have him drive a car up the driveway or pull one in, and he does great, he drives real well for his age," said his father, Acie Holland.

Acie's dad isn't surprised by his son's quick thinking.

"I'm just so proud of my son for, you know, allowing that leadership to come forth," Holland said.

Most importantly, Acie is proud of himself.

"I always look at it like, if my little brother was on that bus, I would hope that someone on there would save him too," he said.

Riteway bus company told the Glendale-River Hills School District that the driver is receiving medical care.