GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News tracked down a good Samaritan who jumped in to help when he saw a school bus and mulch truck collide in Gwinnett County.
The crash happened Tuesday afternoon at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Price Road in Sugar Hill.
Gwinnett County police said the driver of the mulch truck ran a red light, crashing into the front of the school bus.
Rodney Pittard said the scene looked bad, but he pulled his Jeep over and ran to help.
Three Lanier Middle School students were taken to the hospital and the bus driver was seriously injured.
"It was a very scary sight," he said. “I asked them if they were OK, where they were hurting and they each told me."
Pittard said while he was helping injured students, they were worried about their bus driver.
“The thing that was really touching to me about the whole thing was Camden was sitting there in the road. He said, ‘How’s Mr. Rob?’ I said, ‘Your bus driver?’ So he wanted to know about his bus driver,” Pittard said.
Pittard said he went over to help the bus driver, Rob Stephenson, who appeared to be in a lot of pain.
“So I helped Mr. Rob off the back of the bus and he was very, very shaken. I mean, he was crying and he kept saying, ‘My kids. My kids. What have I done to my kids?’ I said, ‘It wasn’t your fault,” Pittard said.
Stephenson was taken to the hospital with broken ribs and a concussion.
The bus driver’s wife said she is thankful for the people who stepped in to help.
“We had good Samaritans who jumped in and they didn’t hesitate. They put their own plans on hold,” Rene Stephenson said.
The bus driver’s family wants to track down another good Samaritan who was at the scene.
Channel 2's Rikki Klaus spoke to the bus driver who told her he took the job to change kids' lives.
"A big impact. My son loves him to death," said Amanda Roberson, whose 11-year-old son was on the bus when it crashed.
Roberson set up a GoFundMe page to help with Rob Stephenson's medical expenses.