FRANKTON — None of the 53 students were reportedly kept in area hospitals overnight after being involved with the crash Wednesday between a Frankton Jr.-Sr. High School bus and a car.
Their bus driver, David Huffman, and two people in the other car were also treated for injuries but released following the collision at rural intersection about three miles south of the school.
The accident, reported at about 9:25 a.m., spun a Chevrolet Corsica driven by Kiesha Lamontagne, 17, a student at Frankton, into a cornfield and tipped over the bus onto its left side.
“We had two more stops to go,” said Cayla McDonald, 16, who was sitting on the right side of the bus.
“I remember one minute sitting next to my friends and the next minute sitting on top of them.”
The crash occurred as students headed to Frankton following a two-hour delay due to icy road conditions.
At the scene, Madison County Sheriff Ron Richardson said investigators were trying to determine if the car slid as it approached a stop sign at the intersection. The bus had the right of way, he said.
For the few brief minutes after the bus toppled over, students helped one another find exits.
“It was hectic. People were crying, screaming, ‘Let me out. Let me out,’” said Manuel Tapia, a 16-year-old sophomore.
Along with more than 30 people from the Frankton bus crash, the emergency room at Community also took nine students from a bus slide-off at East Side Middle School in Anderson.
Of the 41 people involved in the two crashes and taken to Community Hospital, all were treated and released by Wednesday evening, hospital spokeswoman Katie Harrison-Troxell said.
The injured were sent to each of Madison County’s three hospitals. The most serious injuries were broken bones in two students and another who underwent surgery for deep lacerations to his face.
One 14-year-old girl was having a broken bone set Wednesday evening but others had reportedly been sent home or went with their parents.
St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood cared for 11 students who all had minor “bumps and lumps,” hospital administrator Deborah Rasper said.
Saint John’s Medical Center in Anderson treated 12 students, one with a broken arm, according to spokesman Randy Titus.
Rob Amick, fire chief at Frankton, said his team was first on the scene. County dispatch pulled in other ambulances from Alexandria and Richland to Township transport the students to the hospital.
“A lot of people did an amazing job,” he said.
Amick laughed and said it was the first time in Community Hospital’s history that a bus pulled up the ER ramp, referring to the second bus that went to the scene to keep students out of the weather.
Local Education
UPDATE: School bus flips en route to Frankton
Students taken to all county hospitals
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Academic Accolades: May 27
A compilation of academic news as published in the Sunday edition of The Herald Bulletin.
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Well-behaved students rewarded with carnival
A “Can you survive the yuck?” game was one of many offered at the Student Appreciation Program held inside and on the outdoor grounds of AHS on Friday.
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Indiana Christian Academy students look ahead to summer
Tantalizing Florida vacations filled with sun, sand, sea and Disney shimmered like diamonds strewn across a distant shore for several kids awaiting pickup on the last day of classes at Indiana Christian Academy Thursday.
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AHS rewarding well-behaved students
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program (SAP) Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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AHS will hold student appreciation day
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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Anderson High School choir to sing with Foreigner
When Julie Wood received an email from Hoosier Park Racing & Casino about an “exciting opportunity,” the Anderson High School director of choral activities thought it was a joke.
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Haffner becomes 44th winner of Red Haven Award
Pendleton Heights now has both the old and the new Red Haven Award trophy for its case at school.
When PH’s Ellie McCardwell won the award in 2010, the long-standing trophy was retired, and because the Arabians had the last winner, the school was able to permanently house that hardware.
On Tuesday, when the Anderson Noon Exchange Club presented the 2012 winner, it went to Pendleton Heights’ Abbie Haffner. So for the next 12 months, PH will be home to both the new traveling trophy, first presented a year ago to Lapel’s Leigh Steele, and the old one. -
Anderson Learning Academy withdraws charter application
When Anderson Learning Academy’s board first started seeking charter status, it was to help make changes in education as graduation rates and ISTEP scores were low in the public school system.
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Haffner, McFerran get Dickmann Awards
Alexandria-Monroe High School senior Michael McFerran and Pendleton Heights senior Abbie Haffner received the annual Dickmann Youth Community Service Awards on Tuesday during the Anderson Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon at Anderson Country Club.
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Historic Preservation Commission turns down school board
Arguments were made over historical significance, sentimental value, structural stability, safety and finances during a Historic Preservation Commission meeting Monday evening discussing whether to grant South Madison Community Schools board’s proposal to demolish the former middle school at 301 S. East St.
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Academic Accolades: May 27
