THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
Bus Driver Saves Child
Pregnant Bus Driver Pulls Child From Traffic Seconds Before Semi Rolls Thru
By TOM ROBB
Journal Reporter
"I was thinking, as I was looking at him, 'I'm going to see this boy get killed'," said 20-year-old school bus attendant Krystle Cushing.
The four-year-old boy had just peddled his "Big Wheel" onto the six lanes of oncoming traffic on Touhy Avenue near the Oasis Trailer Park in unincorporated Des Plaines.
The young boy would not be hurt that day, though a semi-trailer truck came within a foot of hitting him.
Cushing, six months pregnant at the time, leapt from her bus plunging into heavy traffic to save the unsuspecting youngster.
Cushing said she had no time to think about what she was about to do.
"As soon as his wheel hit Touhy, I jumped out," said Krystle. "I didn't feel my feet hit the ground. By the time I got to him he was in the second lane of traffic."
Krystle ran onto Touhy and snatched the boy and his blue Big Wheel as he approached the third lane of traffic. She explained that she plucked the boy out of the Big Wheel with one hand and pushed the Big Wheel to the street corner with the other. As this was happening, Krystle heard the loud squeal of breaks and the deafening horn of a large semi-tractor trailer. The truck stopped short of the two by just one foot. The truck came to a stop in the first lane and a van in the second lane stopped after the truck sounded its horn.
Oblivious to it all, the boy was waving at cars in traffic as he approached the third lane as they were still speeding by.
Cushing later experienced premature labor pain and went to the hospital where she said she was diagnosed with a bruised pelvis and a pulled or torn muscle.
"I am extremely proud of Krystle. Her love for children made her forget about her own safety," said Kathy Gorecki, assistant operations manager for Rich Lee Vans and the Cook County School Bus Company. "She put herself and her unborn baby in harm's way for an innocent four year old riding his bike on a sunny day."
The bus firm is planning a lunch in her honor. Company officials said they will give Krystle an award and a gift certificate for her heroism.
Cushing's school bus had been slowly following the boy after making its last drop off shortly past 4 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 18.
The boy was riding his Big Wheel down the middle of the road in a trailer park off Touhy Avenue in front of the bus.
The boy seemed unaware of the danger he was in. When the bus driver blew his horn, trying to get the boy to turn off as they approached Touhy, he simply glanced back over his shoulder for a moment and then kept on rolling toward the busy road.
The boy spoke little English and could not tell Cushing where he lived. She would later learn 15 of the boy's friends and relatives had been out scouring another part of the park looking for him.
Cushing, who lives in an adjacent trailer park, took the boy to a friend's house in the park and called Cook County Sheriff's Police to help.
After waiting 45 minutes, police arrived.
Cushing said that just as police were pulling up, the boy's grandmother and aunt arrived. Cushing said the grandmother had been watching the child and claimed she forgot to lock the door when she went to the bathroom. At that point the boy left the house.
Cushing said no one was arrested at the time but said she was told that detectives would be contacting her.