Melissa Henderson says she 'just kept a mellow head'
By Kelsey Watts, KTVZ.COM
After a Redmond school bus carrying some 30 students crashed into a ditch in Crooked River Ranch, one of the teens on board is being called a hero for her calm, decisive action in the panicky moments that followed.
Melissa Henderson, 15, acted far beyond her years in the middle of it all Thursday afternoon, when she checked on the driver, flipped the emergency switch to open the doors, and helped get all the students out - even making a list of names and injuries - all while keeping her cool.
"I kind of blacked out for a minute when I was getting thrown around on the bus, but I just kept a mellow head and did what needed to be done," she explained modestly Friday.
Henderson credits her training with Redmond High's Junior ROTC program for helping her think on her feet - when her mind was spinning.
"I was turned around three seats forward from where I had been, looking at the back of the bus," she said.
Thursday's ride home from school started out like any other, until the driver, preliminarily identified as Nancy Lopez, suffered some kind of medical problem and blacked out.
That sent the bus careening off the side of SW Mustang Road in CRR, onto an embankment, hitting post after post and flattening a stop sign.
But it didn't stop there.
The bus then crossed SW Steelhead Road, ending up on the other side in the dirt - some 400 feet away.
"When you know your own kids are coming home from school on a bus, your alert factor goes up a little bit," said CRR Deputy Fire Chief Tim McLaren, himself a parent. "And once you know it's a bus, we got out probably a lot quicker than we normally do."
Melissa wasn't the only family member on board; her younger sister, Anna, who just turned 14, had been sitting in the front row.
In a lucky twist of timing, Anna got CPR training in her health class the day before the crash.
"I checked to make sure Nancy was okay and responsive, and I went, 'Nancy are you okay?' And she shook her head so I knew she was responsive, and as soon as I got off the bus I called 911," Anna recalled.
Their mother works for the Redmond schools' transportation district, and when she heard about the crash and knew it was their bus, panic set in.
"You don't know how serious it is when you hear 'wreck,' but you never expect this," said their father, Jim Henderson, who rushed to the scene, arriving about the same time as fire crews.
Not long ago, the corner of SW Mustang and SW Steelhead was a bus stop, where dozens of parents would park and wait for their kids.
But on Thursday, thankfully, nobody was there, and while a few students had bumps, bruises, and some minor bleeding - one reported whiplash in a KTVZ.COM posting - nobody apparently was seriously hurt.
The driver reportedly has no prior medical history of blackouts, and is now back home, and doing well.
