ARLINGTON, Ohio — Arlington students and families are relieved that a scary situation on Thursday did not turn into a tragedy echoing a recent bus crash near Dayton.
Over two dozen Arlington Junior High School football players were on a school bus in Wood County when it was rear-ended by a pickup on I-75. The bus was returning from a game against Elmwood when the crash happened, an athletic department spokesperson for Arlington said.
Fortunately, although six students were sent to the hospital with minor injuries, there was no loss of life, unlike a similar school bus crash that ended in tragedy in Clark County less than a month ago.
A student's grandmother told WTOL 11 that many of the Arlington students on the bus had whiplash, concussions or general aches and pains.
Two students, Forrest Yeater and Chayse Simon, were sitting at the very back of the bus when the crash happened.
"Out of nowhere, I just hear the glass break and then the bus starts like, it starts like, tilting or something like that," Forrest said. "We slam on the breaks. But once the car, like, hit me, I was like in complete shock. I was like, 'Is this really happening?'"
Forrest's grandmother, Cindy Kingsley, and mother, Andrea Bender, relived the pain of that night, sharing their story and tears remembering the phone call right after the crash.
"My son-in-law called me and said that the bus had been hit, rear-ended, that Forrest had been sitting in the back. He was bleeding and another kid was. So, it was panic city," Kingsley said.
"He was in the very back seat and we kind of thought the worst, you know? He ended up saying, 'Mom, I'm okay. But, you know, my friends aren't," Bender said.
While the emotions parents feel may not trickle down to the boys, Kooper Edgell said it was all hard to wrap his head around.
"It doesn't even seem real," Kooper said.
However, these young athletes do know they are grateful for their bus driver because they say without him, it could have been much worse.
"Shout out Miles," Chayse said. "He brought us away from the crash so we didn't catch on fire or anything. He kept us here."
The pickup truck that hit the bus then ran through a right-of-way fence off the road, crashed and caught fire on Insley Road on the west side of I-75, authorities said. The driver of the truck is charged with aggravated vehicular assault, leaving the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle under the influence and failure to maintain assured clear distance. He fled the scene and was arrested at home not long after.
The bus driver was uninjured and was able to stop the bus safely on an exit ramp.
While many of the boys are ready to get back on the field, some parents WTOL 11 talked to said they were not in a rush because their players' health is more important.
Thankfully, everyone has more time.