Waubay Bus Driver Recovering, Remembering

A week ago today, a bus from Enemy Swim Day School drifted to the side of the road near Peever and flew through the air before landing. Three students and the bus driver were hurt. News of the Cottonwood crash drives home the reality the Peever accident could have been worse.

"It was like the bus was glued to the guard rail. I couldn't bring it off there," bus driver Amos Roberts said. "I didn't see the approach but we hit the approach." 

"And then we went through the air for a little while and we hit the ground and the next thing I remember, I was half way out the windshield." 

All three kids on board survived and only suffered minor injuries, but the front of the bus was in pieces. 

“After seeing the pictures, I knew it could have been much, much worse," Roberts said. 

Then came news of the crash in Cottonwood. 

"I knew exactly what the driver was thinking, how the driver felt," Roberts said. 

That’s at the time of the crash, but Amos Roberts says he can't imagine what the community is going through now. It makes him think of the kids that were on his bus all the more. 

"They're such great kids and I'm just sorry that we had to go through something like that together," Roberts said. 

But the whole experience, including the guard rail, approach and bus in pieces, ends with four people getting off the bus, all of them alive. 

"And I was so thankful. I was so thankful that they were OK," Roberts said. 

Doctors treated and released the three kids the same day. Roberts was in the hospital until Saturday and is now recovering at home.