A Minnesota man raced onto a moving school bus and managed to stop it after noticing the driver in apparent medical distress, sparing 19 children from a potentially dangerous crash.
Ebro Ahmed, 27, was outside a convenience store in St. Paul’s Dayton neighborhood Monday when a passing bus caught his eye. Its doors were open while the vehicle was still moving, and the person behind the wheel appeared to Ahmed to be having a seizure, although the driver’s precise medical condition was not disclosed.
He chased the vehicle, reached the entrance and climbed inside, where an unfamiliar set of controls presented another challenge.
The bus briefly traveled backward after Ahmed mistakenly selected reverse while trying to park it. He ultimately shifted into neutral and engaged the parking brake.
Security video from Ya Bricks Snacks and Tobacco captured Ahmed abandoning his phone, racing toward the passing bus and climbing through its open doorway before the vehicle reversed and came to a stop.
The children escaped injury, and Ahmed later made clear that his own safety had been a secondary concern.
“It’s kids we’re talking about, you know. Even if I were to die, it would still be worth it,” he declared.
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During an interview with KSTP, Ahmed retraced the decisions he made once he reached the driver’s position.
“So I just ran out to the bus, I tried to put it in park, I threw it in reverse by accident, and then I ended up getting it in neutral, pulled the parking brake.”
The atmosphere among the passengers was far from uniform. Some children reacted loudly to what was happening, while others remained composed.
“Some [kids] were screaming. Some [were] calm,” Ahmed remembered.
Operating the unfamiliar bus required Ahmed’s full attention, and two girls near the front helped him manage the emergency.
One took responsibility for his phone and glasses so he could work the controls without holding anything.
“These two girls on the front really did help me a lot,” Ahmed recalled.
The television medical drama *Grey’s Anatomy* had given Ahmed an unexpected lesson that he drew upon during the rescue.
Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the emergency, he tried to follow the example of the show’s doctors, who remain composed when confronting difficult situations.
“In Grey’s Anatomy, you never see doctors panic,” he observed during the KSTP interview.
Ahmed described the principle as learning “to be calm and just think everything through,” something he believed was useful well beyond the television screen.
Ahmed also viewed helping the children as something he was obligated to do once he recognized their predicament.
“I really felt like it was my duty,” he reflected.
Saint Paul Public Schools later informed ABC News that emergency medical responders had attended to the situation involving the driver.
The district confirmed that nobody was injured. To complete the children’s journey, school officials arranged another vehicle to transport them home.
A separate emergency involving school transportation unfolded in Griffin, Georgia, where a bus driver intervened as a Rottweiler attacked a girl waiting along Anglin Road on Wednesday morning.
Alexis Johnson, identified as 14 by WSB-TV, was accompanied by her 12-year-old brother when the dog went after her.
The driver entered the struggle to help Alexis, and the effort to drive the animal away also involved her brother and another young person.
Samantha Nations, a neighbor who helped comfort the injured girl, described a scene marked by extensive bleeding and serious wounds.
The bus driver’s willingness to fight the animal particularly impressed her.
“He got bit himself. But it was more the bus driver,” Nations recounted, praising him as “a wonderful man.”
The attempt to protect Alexis also left other young people injured. Her 12-year-old brother reportedly suffered minor injuries while confronting the dog, and county officials confirmed that another young male rescuer was hurt.
Atlanta News First, citing Spalding County Schools, identified that rescuer as a student aboard the bus. The available accounts do not establish that he and Alexis’ younger brother were the same person.
Her mother informed WSB-TV that surgery was expected, while 11 Alive characterized the girl’s condition as serious. The precise nature and full extent of her injuries were not disclosed.
Spalding County Manager Steve Ledbetter indicated that criminal charges would be pursued against the dog’s owner.
The Rottweiler reportedly got loose from a neighboring property’s fenced enclosure before attacking Alexis. Animal Control personnel subsequently secured the animal, which was being held by county authorities.
As the investigation continued, officials urged the public to avoid speculation and give the children and their relatives privacy during their recovery.
Ledbetter specifically recognized the courage of the young person who had joined the rescue.
“We are especially grateful to the young man who placed himself in harm’s way to help the girl,” he told Fox 5. “Our thoughts and concern are with them and their families.”
