A man riding on a rental car, which collided with a school bus in Georgia, helped students with free kicks before he crashed and died.
Johnathon Grayer, 25, of Jacksonville, Florida, was driving a rental truck Wednesday afternoon when it collided with the back of a school bus that was stopped for students to leave, according to a preliminary investigation by the Georgia State Patrol.
Ten students were on the bus at the time of the crash, authorities said.
Both Grayer and the bus driver helped children get off the bus after the accident, Georgia State Trooper Shane Copeland told WSAV, NBC’s subsidiary in Savannah. He said footage from the bus surveillance camera showed Grayer lifting seats to free children sitting under them.
Grayer then collapsed and was taken to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.
“We’ve had other accidents and tragedies and things like that in the past, but this one … had you shaken most of them all,” said Tyler Beach, a Bacon County fire and EMS compliance officer, WSAV.
All 10 children suffered life-threatening injuries, six of whom were taken to nearby hospitals with cuts and broken bones. The bus driver, Jerry Sweat, was also injured and taken to a hospital, WSAV reported.
Gov. Brian Kemp responded to the “tterrible news,“in a tweet, saying he sent prayers to ‘the family and loved ones of the truck driver who lost their lives and the students who were injured.’
