By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Bryan Elementary teacher Amy King denies that she’s a hero, even though many have called her that in the past few days.

King is still in the hospital after she was thrown from a charter bus Friday morning when the bus overturned. Forty Bryan Elementary fifth-graders and two teachers were on the bus. They were headed to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga for a field trip.

King’s husband Chris King and Dr. Jeffrey Kerby of UAB Hospital conducted a press conference Tuesday at UAB.

According to Chris King, who is a certified athletic trainer at Mortimer Jordan High School, his wife was sitting two seats back and to the right of the bus driver Friday morning when she saw the driver slump over.

King ran to the front of the bus and grabbed the steering wheel, but could not reach the brake.

King could see trees in the median to the left, so she pulled the wheel to the right. The bus then left the roadway and overturned off Interstate 59 near Springville.

Later, Amy King was worried that she had made a mistake.

However, an investigator told the King family that had the bus wrecked into the median, it would have hit trees and landed in standing water.

But Amy King still doesn’t want to be in the spotlight.

“Please don’t say ‘hero’ to her. She doesn’t like it,” said Chris King.

He said, however, that “she’s been mine for a long time.”

Kerby could not predict when King will be released from the hospital.

He said she has broken ribs, a punctured lung, and broken bones in her back, right leg and right hip. She is also soon having surgery for a broken collarbone.

“She has a fairly good prognosis, but it will take time,” Kerby said.

A student was also still in the hospital Tuesday, but Bryan Elementary principal Debra Campbell said the family has not agreed to let her release the student’s name.

About 120 fifth-graders were on the field trip.

On Monday, the school treated all fifth-graders to a breakfast where they could talk about the accident.

Counselors talked to the students as a group, and were available all day for individual counseling.

“This is something principals think about but hope they never go through,” said Campbell.

She said that the two families are in the process of setting up accounts at People’s Bank to accept donations to help pay for medical expenses.

Campbell said she is grateful to everyone who helped at Bryan Elementary and in Springville on Friday.

“So many people came to the aid of our students here,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Chris King said that at Mortimer Jordan, players on the softball team will wear green ribbons in their hair (Amy King’s favorite color) until she is released from the hospital.