Hero boy who saved busload of children credits lack of mobile phone

A boy who saved a busload of children from a crash says he noticed the danger because he didn’t have a mobile phone.

Dillon Reeves is seen grabbing the steering wheel of the bus on Wednesday, April 26, in Warren, Michigan. Picture: WJBK

The heroic teenager who saved a busload of students from an accident after the driver suffered a medical emergency was one of the few who was not using a mobile phone at the time of the incident.

Dillon Reeves, a seventh-grader in Warren, Michigan, was seated in the fifth row of his bus last month when the driver began feeling dizzy and passed out, prompting Dillon to spring into action by grabbing the wheel and applying the brakes as the bus veered into oncoming traffic, a split-second act of heroism made possible by being one of the few students who was not using a phone, his family told CBS News.

Dillon Reeves is seen grabbing the steering wheel of the bus on Wednesday, April 26, in Warren, Michigan. Picture: WJBK

“What else are you going to do when you don’t have a phone?” Dillon said in an interview with CBS. “You’re going to look at people. You’re going to notice stuff.”

Shortly before Dillon took action to prevent injury to about 60 students on the bus, the vehicle’s driver reported over the radio that she was becoming light-headed as she was transporting the students home from Carter Middle School.

The driver felt dizzy and passed out so Dillon Reeves jumped into action. Picture: WJBK

“I’m feeling really dizzy,” the driver said over the bus radio, according to a Washington Post report. “I might have to pull over.”

Seconds later the driver, who has not been publicly identified, began to lose consciousness and appeared to drop her hands from the steering wheel.

That was when Dillon sprang up to grab the wheel and apply the brakes, bring the bust to a halt as other students around him began screaming in fear.

“All of a sudden, the brakes get slammed,” one of the students on the bus recounted to CBS News.

“We all were just terrified and shocked,” another student said.

“That’s when I looked up and saw him,” a third recalled.

“Someone call 911… NOW!” Dillon then yelled at his classmates.

Dillon Reeves says he was paying attention because he wasn’t looking at a mobile phone. Picture: WJBK

After the bus came to a stop, Warren Consolidated Schools superintendent Robert Livernois said two “good Samaritans” arrived to help the driver and get the students off the bus.

As for Dillon, his father said during a news conference that his son knew what to do because he had driven golf carts around the campgrounds their family has been to and at one point practices driving a car from the passenger seat.

“He could probably drive one of the cars out of here and be okay,” his father said. “I promise you that.”

Dillon has since been hailed a hero by the school district, Warren Mayor James Fouts, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“This was an extraordinary act of courage and maturity,” Mr Livernois said during the news conference.

The parents have yet to give Dillon a phone, saying they plan on holding off on it for now, thought “virtually every kid” riding the bus had one, according to CBS News.

“It’s a very powerful lesson, maybe ‘change the world’ kind of lesson,” Dillon’s father said.

When asked about his parents’ decision not to give him a phone, Dillon simply replied, “Whatever. My parents are old school.”

This story was published by Fox News and was reproduced with permission