We’ll say up front that this story has a happy ending, but the little 5-year-old girl is lucky to be alive as she was left alone on the bus for three hours in 90-degree weather.
The mom who shared the story, @happycloudbooks, is asking readers to:
Remind your kids bus drivers to CHECK EVERY SEAT BEFORE LEAVING. PLEASE. My child survived 3 hours but yours might not. Please. Take the extra 2 minutes. Learn from us. We were almost a tragedy. A preventable tragedy. Please remind them.
Have a read of the whole thing, it’s well worth your time:
My daughter's bus driver nearly killed her on the first day of kindergarten so here's a PSA for all parents of young bus riders.
This happened today.
{thread/story}
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
My daughter, who is 5 and slightly developmentally delayed was trapped alone on a bus parked at the bus depot for 3 hours in near 90 degree weather.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
The bus driver DID NOT check whatsoever when he pulled in. He just got off. She tried to get his attention but failed. She knows to stay in her seat so that's where she stayed. FOR 3 FUCKING HOURS. ALONE. IN THE SUN.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I'd had an off feeling since I put her on the bus this morning. It's our first regular bus. Will she find the right seat? Be able to get off the bus okay? Will the older kids be nice to her?
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I take her school paperwork in at 9. They don't say she's absent. I figure everything is fine. They'd call if something were wrong, right?
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I wake my hubby up close to 11. I miss a call from school. The school says she's absent and they want to know if she's okay because I didnt call her in. I freak out.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I PUT HER ON THE BUS AT 7:30 WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S ABSENT?!
They reassure me she's likely in class, several busses were late this morning after attendance was taken. They're going to go check. They'll call me right back.
I expect a call in 5 to 10 minutes.— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I. WAIT. ALMOST. 40. MINUTES. And this time it isn't the secretary. It's the superintendent of the bus depot. And he's PISSED. My child. My FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD was left alone on the bus. She appears okay but I need to meet them at school. I bolt. I already had keys in my hand.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I beat them there. I watch my child walk into the school red, dripping wet, and cradling a water bottle. I almost cry. My baby appears okay. She says she has a stomachache but is okay.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
She is thoroughly checked over by the nurse while the principal, bus superintendent, and I sit in a conference room discussing just what the actual fuck happened.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
The bus drivers are supposed to do a seat check before leaving. He didnt. My daughter didn't know when to get off. No other k-1st graders (kids at her school) on this bus. This should never have happened.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
And then he tells me what I hadn't even grasped yet. He had left her there, alone, in the heat, since 8:30. They found her after 11:30. I am devastated and crying on the inside. 3 hours. Alone. In almost 90 degree weather. Locked. On a bus.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
Bus driver is fired (obviously). They put steps in place to make sure my kid can ride the bus safely. The nurse tells me that, shockingly, my child is just FINE. I let her stay the rest of the day.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
They give her lots of water. The girls who found her had ice water on hand and were dousing towels with it to put on her body. They're offering her food. She tells me she got hungry and is sorry she ate some of her lunch on the bus. I nearly cry. I reassure her it's okay.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
I ask her about her day when she gets home and she tells me about the bus. My heart breaks when she tells me that the only time she got scared was when she got cold. She wanted me. She cried for me. I hold her extra tight tonight.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
My child should. Not be alive right now. Kids die after an hour in a hot car. My child survived 3 and only got a stomachache. My child should be dead. If I hadn't of packed her 2 drinks in her lunch she WOULD HAVE DIED. Today we hold her close.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
If you only retweet one thing, retweet this….
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
Remind your kids bus drivers to CHECK EVERY SEAT BEFORE LEAVING. PLEASE. My child survived 3 hours but yours might not. Please. Take the extra 2 minutes. Learn from us. We were almost a tragedy. A preventable tragedy. Please remind them.
— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
So tonight I play with my girl. I remind her that if, by some miniscule chance you get left on the bus, to honk that horn until someone comes. And in the morning we figure out a new plan for school.
She's okay. Somehow, she's absolutely fine. Thank you, Lord!— Coley (@happycloudbooks) August 29, 2018
And thank you for sharing.
***
Related:
PRAYERS: A NJ school bus carrying 5th graders collided with a dump truck on Route 80 near Mt. Olive https://t.co/nN6EUmkkeh
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 17, 2018
ICYMI==> VIDEO: Meet the world's dumbest school bus driver https://t.co/a7zZHZ9rCS
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A School Principal Saw a Bus Leap a Curb, Her Courageous Sacrifice Will Never Be Forgotten https://t.co/pvwVBs75eN
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