A Michigan boy who recently stopped a school bus from crashing after the driver lost consciousness leapt into action because he was the only passenger not distracted by an electronic device, according to a new report from CBS.
On Sunday, two weeks after seventh-grader Dillon Reeves regained control of a school bus when its driver became unconscious, the network reported that the boy’s parents’ refusal to provide him a cellphone paid off in a big way.
Dillon’s father, Steve, told CBS: “What else are you going to do when you don’t have a phone? You’re going to look at people, you’re going to notice stuff. You’re going to look out the window. It’s a very powerful lesson, maybe a change-the-world kind of lesson.”
In the CBS report, several passengers on the bus with Dillion – who are the equivalent of year eight in the UK – revealed that they were immersed in their electronic devices when their driver began to lose consciousness as they were being driven home from school on 26 April.
“I had my AirPods in,” said one student, referring to a popular brand of wireless headphones. A second student added: “I was looking on my phone.”
And yet another student said: “I was on my phone playing a little game.”
In a video that was captured by a bus security camera before it went viral, Dillon can be seen rushing up to the steering wheel after noticing that the driver had passed out during a medical emergency. Dillon stepped on the brakes, steered the bus away from traffic and eventually brought it to a stop as other students yelled in a panic from their seats.
“Someone call 911! Now!” Dillon yelled as he brought the bus to a stop.
The driver was eventually treated for an unspecified medical episode as the students were transferred to a different bus and brought home.
Dillon, speaking to CBS, said: “I just knew what to do at that moment. The bus was swerving off the road.”
After word of his intervention on the runaway bus, Dillon was widely praised as a hero online and by his school district’s superintendent.
“The actions of the student who helped stop the bus made all the difference today, and I could not be prouder of his efforts,” the superintendent, Robert D Livernois, said on Facebook.
Dillon’s parents said their son’s heroic actions were reason enough to hold off on getting him a phone even more.
When asked by CBS to comment on his parents’ decision to withhold from giving him a phone even longer, Dillon shrugged and said: “Whatever. My parents are old school.”
