A middle school basketball coach in Texas saved his team from what could have been a tragic bus accident when he heroically jumped in to take control of a school bus that was careening off the road after its driver passed out as he drove the team to a game.
As reported by Houston network KHOU-TV, Crosby (Texas) Middle School boys basketball coach Jerome Cargile saved his team's bus from veering off the road after the bus driver shockingly passed out in the middle of the team's trip to play Boling (Texas) Middle School. According to KHOU, the bus began swerving on a curvy, two-lane road and suddenly went into the opposite lane before Cargile and his coaching staff could regain control.
"I came up front and grabbed the steering wheel to get it back on the road," Cargile told KHOU. "As I jacked the steering wheel, the bus almost tipped over. So I had to turn the wheel back and get it to the side of the road."
According to a player's grandparent who was following behind the bus, Cargile's version of events is anything but overdramatic.
"When I saw the bus' back wheels come [off the pavement], I just started screaming, 'Please, Lord don't let the bus turn over,'" Virginia Woodard told KHOU. "I got on the bus and I told [the players] whoever saved ya'll, you ought to pray and thank them."
Incredibly, the bus avoided all oncoming traffic and obstacles and was able to be brought to a safe stop. Then, without further delay, the Crosby seventh- and eighth-grade teams finished the rest of their journey to Boling … and promptly won both games (though, intriguingly, KHOU failed to make clear who drove the bus for the rest of the day).
All in a day's work for a proud Texas middle school coach, and stand-in hero.
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