Students and staff rocked by a fatal bus crash in Grimshaw are being offered counselling and support.
Some students say they’re afraid to get back on the bus for the hour-long bus ride one way to the school.
“They’re ready to go back, it’s just the bus part there is still in their mind and it’s a scary part for them,” said Clifford Russell, a parent of three children who were on the bus and witnessed the crash.
The driver of the school bus was killed in Monday’s crash, and fourteen students were injured. Police say the southbound school bus crossed into the northbound lanes near Grimshaw, hitting a semi truck. One student was flown to an Edmonton hospital with two broken legs, the other injured students were treated and have since been released from hospital. The driver of the semi truck was also taken to an Edmonton hospital.
Counsellors were available for students at three schools in Grimshaw today, and support is also being offered to the 115 school bus drivers in the region.
“Our heart just goes out to everyone right now, and we’re giving our kids an opportunity to feel supported and to move through this as a big school community and a Grimshaw community,” said Adam Murray, principal at Kennedy Elementary, one of the school’s affected by the crash.
The bus driver who was killed in the crash was “closely related” to a staff member at Kennedy Elementary, and had been driving for the school for just a week.
“I would have loved to got to know him more,” said Murray.
“These tragedies touch, they ripple, and they really touch the entire community.”
