Mini-hero
Published: January 20, 2006
Aaron McTavish-Tsuruda wasn’t dreaming yesterday morning when his school bus rolled twice on a county road into a water-filled ditch.
“I was sleeping in the back seat and all I remember is getting tossed around,” McTavish-Tsuruda said.
The minibus was carrying six pupils when it hit a patch of black ice on Chalmers Road near Dutton.
The bus rolled twice, narrowly missing a guardrail, before landing on its wheels on a steep incline with its front end partially submerged.
McTavish-Tsuruda, 13, took off his seatbelt, opened the back door of the bus and helped the other pupils get out. Most were under the age of 10.
The bus driver told everyone to stay calm and head to the back, he said.
“I heard a few screams and there were a few frightened kids. One girl hit her head. Most of the people stayed calm.”
McTavish-Tsuruda said his experience in two previous school bus crashes helped him to react.
His calm and measured response was praised yesterday by his principal at Homedale public school in St. Thomas, his father, Brent, and Chris Dennett of the Thames Valley District school board.
“He really got involved,” Dennett said. “Obviously he’s a mini-hero.”
Principal Jane Hanbuch said the school will hold an assembly to honour McTavish-Tsuruda, who’s in Grade 8.
“We were so impressed with his quick thinking and even quicker actions,” she said. “We’re just pleased everyone is safe.”
McTavish-Tsuruda cut his finger in the crash.
“It’s a good thing for seat- belts,” his father said.
McTavish-Tsuruda said he wasn’t frightened when he woke up.
“This was my third school bus accident,” he said. “The first one was when I was in Grade 1 and we hit a telephone pole near Rodney. The second happened two years ago. We slid off a road and nearly hit a tree on a road from Dutton to St. Thomas.
“I was too young to do anything (to help) in the first one and in the second one, nobody needed help.”
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