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For The Washington Post

Virginia Oliver

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Kimberly Holland

Acie Holland III was riding home on the school bus in Glendale, Wis., when he noticed the driver wasn’t slowing down as she usually did to turn onto his street.

“She likes to joke with us a lot, and I thought maybe she was fooling with us,” he said.

As Acie, 14, stood up in the aisle and called out to the driver from the middle of the bus, he saw her head suddenly drop to the steering wheel.

The school bus — with 14 students aboard — began drifting over the centerline into oncoming traffic, he said.

Acie, an eighth-grade student at Glen Hills Middle School, said he raced up the aisle and grabbed the steering wheel.

“I checked to see if the driver was okay and I yelled, but she was unconscious and didn’t respond,” he said. “So I took the wheel and straightened out the bus, then I moved her foot off the gas pedal.”

He then quickly maneuvered the bus closer to the curb and hit the brakes, causing the bus to abruptly stop.

“Everyone else was okay and the other kids were frozen, just looking at me because it happened so fast,” Acie said.

The youngest students on the bus during the April 24 incident were in fourth grade.

“I told them all to call their parents, and I asked my friend to call 911,” he said. “Then I got off the bus and ran home to get my grandma because she’s a nurse.”

The bus driver regained consciousness and called her dispatcher at the Go Riteway transportation company in Milwaukee, and a new driver was sent to continue the route, Acie said. When he returned with his grandmother, Phyllis Holland, a bus company manager had arrived on the scene and taken the driver to the hospital.

Anna Young, principal of Glen Hills Middle School, said the driver apologized to her young passengers before she was taken to the emergency room.

“We don’t have any details about what happened to her, but I know she was under medical care the following day,” Young said. “The kids told me it was a really scary experience, but Acie took care of it.”

Young said everyone is grateful for his quick actions. “He’s now seen as a hero,” she said.

On Wednesday, Young and others from the Glendale-River Hills School District honored Acie with a citation for his bravery.

“It’s not lost on me that this could have been a serious tragedy for our school community,” Young said. “Acie knows about cars and he has an understanding of cars that most students his age don’t. I can’t think of a student who could have been more properly placed to deal with this.”

Acie said he felt comfortable taking control of the bus because he already knows how to drive a tractor and he enjoys helping out in his father’s auto repair shop in Glendale.

“I love being around cars and learning how things work,” he said. “I guess I’ve just always been curious and asked a lot of questions.”

When Acie told his parents what had happened on the bus, they were relieved but not surprised that he’d jumped in to help.

“He’s definitely always been hands-on, and he pays close attention to everything,” said Acie’s mother, Kimberly Holland.

“I was in tears to think about what could have happened, and so happy that everyone walked away without a scratch,” she said. “I’m really proud that Acie took charge.”

Acie’s father, Acie Holland Jr., said he wondered at first whether his son was pranking him when he said, ‘Hey, Dad, I saved the bus today.’”

“When I realized he was serious, it made sense — he was just being himself,” Holland said. “He took really easily to driving. If I don’t teach it, and it’s something he wants to do, I know Acie is going to do it, regardless.”

Acie Holland Jr. 

When he isn’t helping in the auto shop, Acie enjoys cutting hair for friends and relatives.

“My goal is to be a mechanic and have a barber shop too,” he said. “Combining both of those things would be a lot of fun.”

He is also involved in junior league wrestling, and he often pitches in as a reading buddy for younger students in the school, Young said.

“If another student is having a struggle, we’ll have Acie talk to them,” Young said. “He’s very much a leader with a strong work ethic, and it’s been a privilege to watch him grow.”

The day after he stopped the bus from crashing, Acie told his story to the Milwaukee <a href="https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/8th-grader-helps-save-school-bus-after-driver-has-medical-emergency" target=_blank>TV station TMJ4</a>, as his classmates chanted “Acie, hero!” After the interview, when the news crew’s car wouldn’t start, he came to the rescue again — this time with battery jumper cables that were in his dad’s truck. His father, who was there for the interview, taught him several years ago how to use them.

“Sometimes, you just do what you have to do,” Acie said. “I’m just being me.”

Cathy Free is a human interest reporter who specializes in stories of humanity. She has written for The Washington Post's Inspired Life section since 2018. 

Cathy Free

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Wisconsin teen saves bus full of students after driver passes out

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