Wednesday, January 17, 2001
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Wednesday, January 17, 2001 |
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Girl aids mother after bus collides with deer By PAT NEWMAN A freak accident early Tuesday morning involving a deer and a Fayette County school bus could have resulted in tragedy for the driver if not for the quick thinking and composure of her daughter. According to Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information specialist for Fayette County Schools, driver Danette Corcoran, 43, was navigating bus 182 northbound on Gingercake Road in Fayetteville around 6:30 a.m. when a 2000 Chrysler Sebring, operated by Heather Lindsay, 27, traveling southbound struck an antlered buck. The impact tore the deer in half, and the animal's rear half was hurled into the air and through the windshield of the bus. Instantly covered in glass and blood, Corcoran was unable to see. Her 10-year-old daughter, Rachel Hubbard, a student at Fayetteville Elementary and the only passenger at the time, calmly directed her mother to steer the bus off the road and brake. Bus 224 was next on the scene and its driver radioed for help. Fayette County Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Woodie investigated the accident and reported that Corcoran was very lucky to survive, and credited her daughter with keeping the mishap from becoming deadly by remaining calm. Corcoran was treated at the hospital for bruises and facial lacerations, including a scratched cornea, and released. Her daughter and the driver of the other vehicle were uninjured. Berry-Dreisbach noted that a metal angel clip attached to the visor of the driver's side of the bus was not even bloodied in the accident. It stayed perfectly in place, she said.
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