8th grader helps stop school bus after driver passes out behind the wheel

By Tanner Kahler

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    GLENDALE, Wisconsin (WISN) — It could have ended in tragedy if not for Acie Holland III’s quick thinking.

Wednesday night, the Glen Hills Middle School student was riding the bus after school when the bus driver had some kind of medical emergency, causing her to lose consciousness near 25th Street and Villard Avenue.

Holland took notice.

“I look up at the bus driver and she was just, like, dazed. I’m looking, and she was like her head was falling on the steering wheel,” Holland said.

According to a letter from the school, the bus began to veer into the oncoming lane. That’s when Holland jumped in to help.

“I grabbed the steering wheel then I get us to the curb and I hit the brakes close and then when we hit the curb, I turned the wheel all the way because I didn’t know where the parking brake was,” Holland said.

Holland called 911 to get the driver’s help. The school said the driver then regained consciousness and called Riteway dispatch, which sent a safety team and bus driver to complete the route.

Because of Holland’s quick actions, he saved 20 children and their bus driver.

“I really hope that people take away the fact that like everyday people can do really extraordinary things,” said Anna Young, Glen Hills Middle School principal. “I think that our students, when they step outside of their comfort zones, can surprise themselves.”

The eighth-grade student’s father, Acie Holland Jr., couldn’t believe it when his son told him what happened.

“He was just like, ‘I saved people’s lives today,’ and he was so excited and he seemed like he wasn’t nervous at all,” Acie Holland Jr. said. “He just kind of just went with the flow, whatever it was. So that’s what made it unbelievable for me, cause he was just so calm.”

While he’s being hailed as a hero, Holland said he just did what he had to do.

Holland said, “Made me feel good that I know that I saved people and I know I feel more confident now and brave.”

The Glendale-River Hills School District said the bus driver is still recovering.

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