Pat Irons of Blue Grass, Iowa earned recognition as a hero from the Davenport Community School District for his extraordinary courage and quick thinking in avoiding tragedy at an intersection on March 6th. By swerving to avoid what could have been a fatal incident, Irons helped ensure students being transported to Walcott Elementary stayed safe. A district release announced this incredible act of bravery by one special truck driver.
Nine school kids and a driver had an incredibly lucky escape when their bus careened into the path of an oncoming semi-truck. The bus was at risk of being struck by the big rig.
In a moment of remarkable quick-thinking, Irons barely averted catastrophe in the nick of time. With no thought for his own safety, he managed to swerve his enormous vehicle away from an oncoming bus – only grazing its front bumper before driving into a roadside ditch.
On March 27th, Irons was commended for their heroic act of courage by being bestowed with the Davenport Community School District’s Achieving Excellence Award at a board meeting.
Five students and their bus driver were taken to the hospital as a precaution after the bus crash. Fortunately, none of them experienced life-threatening injuries. Irons suffered an injured arm, some bumps and bruises, and other non-life-threatening injuries.
“He’s a hero,” said TJ Schneckloth, superintendent for the Davenport Community School District. “He showed incredible courage and selflessness in helping to avoid a tragedy. Because of this, we felt the least we could do is honor him with this award.”
“I just did what I thought was the right thing to do,” Irons said. “I didn’t have much time to react, I just didn’t want to hit that bus, so I swerved as quickly as I could. I didn’t know what was going to happen, I just wanted to do the right thing.”
Irons expressed delight toward being honored by DCSD, though stated his ultimate satisfaction stemmed from the event’s end result.
“I’m happy it turned out the way it did and nobody was seriously injured,” Irons said. “That’s all that really matters to me.”
Source: OurQuadCities.com
