Somerton student saves classmates when bus driver collapses

Graceann Rumer has only been driving for two weeks, but compared with everyone else she rode the bus with Tuesday, she’s an old pro.

Rumer, who attends Calvary Christian Academy in Somerton, took the school bus Tuesday instead of practicing her new skills behind the wheel. But she got to drive anyway when the driver had an emergency.

Watch video of Rumer describe to NBC10 how she sprang into action and took the wheel when the driver slumped over from a heart attack. The 17-year-old steered the bus out of oncoming traffic and used the parking gear to stop the bus, as the driver’s foot was blocking the brake pedal.

The driver, 51-year-old Charles Duncan, died from the heart attack. Rumer and the other students on the bus were uninjured.

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