It was just another day for Cobb County school bus driver Ricky Cooper when he came upon a scene of a car crash one morning last month in Mableton.
Cooper, 38, who had just dropped off students at Lindley Sixth Grade Academy, was returning to the school district’s bus lot when he saw a coworker standing in the middle of Buckner Road near Veterans Memorial Parkway.
Cooper asked what was going on and his coworker told him there was a woman trapped in a car in a ditch. The car, Cooper said, was on its hood down a steep embankment and its wheels were still spinning.
“My first concern was whether there were kids in the car because it was traveling towards the school,” he said. “I could hear her in the car screaming and kicking the door because she was trapped upside down.”
The woman was the only occupant in the car. Cooper asked if she was OK, but she said she could not get out because the door was jammed. Cooper was able to get the door open and pushed the seat back, which allowed the woman to crawl out of the vehicle.
By the time she was free, others had arrived to help. The woman, who was clutching her arm, was checked over by paramedics and told she most likely suffered a broken arm, Cooper said. Seeing that the accident victim was in safe hands, Cooper hopped back on his bus and continued his on his way.
The Powder Springs resident has been a bus driver for four years, and said he’s enjoyed every moment of his role of transporting more than 200 students to and from school.
“Everyday is a different day with them,” he said. “I really enjoy that.
Cooper said he hopes his story of coming to the aid of the accident victim serves as a reminder that bus drivers not only take children to and from school, but also are everyday heroes who are often invisible to the general public.
“We are the first line of defense before teachers and principals see (students),” he said. “Before they get to the school, we are up bright and early to make sure buses are up and operating. We don’t get the recognition that we need to get.”
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