Lisa Locklear has been a bus driver for over 20 years. Every morning before setting off to work, she carries out a security check to ensure the safety of her charges. Her 14 year-old son, Cory Lewis, helps her with her morning security checks. No one would have guessed that this training would help Cory save the lives of 50 students.
Chance or Design?
Cory doesn’t usually take the bus to or from school. He usually has another ride home. “I feel that it was God that caused him to take that bus ride home,” says Lisa. “He was put on that bus for a reason.”
The bus ride home was going well until a car hit them. “We were going through a stop sign and were about halfway through when the car hit us,” recalls Cory.
Like many of the students in the bus, Cory was knocked to the bus floor by the impact. When he looked up, he noticed that the bus driver was not in her seat. She was lying on the floor of the bus unconscious and the bus was still moving.
“I noticed that the bus was moving towards some pine trees and a ditch that lay on the side of the road,” recalls Cory. “I guess I reacted out of instinct.”
Cory had great instincts. He made his way to the front of the bus and hit the brake. The bus came to a stop just in time. Thanks to Cory’s instincts, no students were injured in the incident. The bus driver and the driver in the other car also emerged relatively unscathed.
A New Hero
While Cory remains humble and states that it was all instinct, his actions have earned him the title ‘hero’ from his mother and other students. “He’s my little hero,” says Lisa. “I didn’t think that those morning security checks would be preparing him for that fateful day. I believe that it was God that planned for Cory to be on that bus that specific day. He’s now a hero.”
His actions have also earned him recognition from the Robenson County School Board. They had a special meeting early in the year to award the Fairgrove Middle School hero. The boy’s good instincts will be remembered for years to come and those whose lives he saved are grateful to him for a second chance at life.
