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A community named unsuspecting heroes when a bus swerved off the road and into a pond in Hillsborough County.
On what could have been a normal day for students of Mary E. Bryant Elementary School, none of the parents or children expected the horrifying moment that was to come.
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The brakes on the bus weren’t working, and the bus driver had lost control of the wheel. The bus swerved off the road and went straight to the waters.
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There were twenty-seven children on board. Based on the students’ accounts, the terror they experienced as the bus flipped over in the pond was unimaginable.
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To make matter worse, the pond is home to alligators, with some even sizing up to 10 and 12 feet long.
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Parents were quick to jump into action. A number of moms who waited for their children helped pull the kids out and bring them back to shore safely. Among these was Nicholas Sierra, a 10-year-old school crossing guard who happened to be around the area.
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“I grabbed a little girl’s hands and put them around my neck. And then I grabbed two other kids and dragged them out of the bus,” Sierra recalls. He, along with the other people on the scene, successfully helped all 27 children get out through the bus’s emergency door.
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There were no serious injuries that day, thanks to quick action and swift thinking. But according to witnesses, they will never forget hearing numerous children screaming in terror.
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For Sierra and the rest of the brave people who helped the children, they never planned to be heroes. But we’re sure that if it weren’t for their selfless acts, a worse tragedy would have ensued.
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Check out this video below.
Safety patrol Nicholas Sierra helped pull kindergartners from the bus until help arrived. Great job Nicholas!! Here are photos from the scene – //on.wtsp.com/1iSUk8M
Posted by 10News WTSP on Thursday, 17 September 2015
