A FIFTH year student is being hailed as a hero for his decisive action in preventing loss of life when a school bus crashed in County Limerick on Wednesday morning.
46 students were aboard a Bus Eireann sub contracted service when the driver suffered what is believed to have been a heart attack at the wheel.
The young boy ran and grabbed the wheel as the bus crashed into cars with eyewitnesses saying that he “most likely saved them from much worse”.
The accident happened around 8.40am at an area known as Connolly’s Cross near Caherline on the R513, Herbertstown to Caherconlish road, when a 57-seater sub-contracted school bus was travelling to John The Baptist Secondary School in Hospital, County Limerick.
The bus left the road hitting trees in the roadside ditch before falling on its side.
Emergency services including appliances from Limerick City Fire and Rescue, as well as county stations, were deployed along with Gardaí and paramedics from the National Ambulance service.
26 injured people, including teenagers and two adult casualties, were brought to hospital by Medivac 112 air ambulance.
The resuscitation and paediatric areas of the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) were cleared as part of a major incident protocol.
Additional surgical teams and nursing staff, including paediatric and trauma nurses, were assigned to the emergency department while the emergency theatre and trauma theatre were put on full standby, a UHL spokesperson said.
The road was closed and local diversions were put in place between Caherconlish and Ballyneety.
A spokesperson for Bus Eireann confirmed that there were 46 students on the bus and that the company was assisting the authorities with their investigations into the incident.
“We would like to express our gratitude to all the emergency services for their rapid response, and we will continue to liaise with the school and parents of the injured students,” the spokesperson said.
A multi agency investigation has now been launched.
