In an incredible feat of alertness and courage, a 17-year old girl took control of the school bus after its driver suffered a cardiac arrest while driving it. On seeing the driver Haroonbhai fumbling in speech and his driving getting wobbly, Class 12 student Bhargavi Vyas took a split-second decision and took charge of the wheels.
Bhargavi Vyas of Class 12 was the first person to be picked up by her school bus from her house on Saturday for the school’s annual function. She was the only student in the bus and sat on the first seat as she was known to driver Haroonbhai. While they were casually chatting, Haroonbhai suddenly had a cardiac arrest while driving.
“Suddenly while chatting with me, his speech started fumbling. I immediately walked to him to find out what happened, but he was speechless by that time. I tried to touch him, but he fell on the steering of the bus while it was moving. I saw that the road was full of traffic, especially with school children on foot and on cycles. And there was a traffic signal about 100 metres ahead, where several vehicles waited for the green light.”
Bhargavi said as the bus approached the traffic signal, the light was about to turn green. “I immediately took control of the bus. There were two scooters and several people and children ahead of us. I turned the steering and swung the bus on one side. The bus dashed against a roadside sub-station which brought it to a halt,” said Bhargavi.
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