Today is a bittersweet day for me. It is the 25th anniversary of my school bus accident. I was hit and ran over by my school bus when I was 5. Following is the newspaper article that ran 3 days later. I don't think it's too depressing, but read at your own caution.
"Bethel Hopes For A Little Sunshine"
"By telephone, the happy word spread from Country Road to Mitch Haven Drive to Braun Road: Sunshine could move her toes. 5-year-old Sunshine Osborne alighted from a Bethel Park school bus and started to cross Braun Road. The driver, unaware, started to pull away from the stop. She either stumbled or was knocked down by the bus, and the vehicle's wheels passed over her. The bus continued along Braun Road, the driver oblivious to what had happened.
Sunshine was admitted to Children's Hospital in serious condition. Monday evening she had no feeling or movement in her legs.
It was about 28 hours later that her stepfather, Greg Hulet, relayed the hopeful message.
"He called me and I kept the word going,"said Lee Jodoin of Mitch Haven Drive. "Soon, we were all smiling." Mrs. Jodoin said Sunshine is as her name implies - "just bubbly and sunny and friendly to everybody. That's why the whole neighborhood's upset."
Though she moved to Bethel Park with her parents from Idaho Falls, Idaho, only last May, Sunshine, her pixie-like quality enhanced by dark blue eyes and blond hair which falls on her shoulders, became the object of special affection from neighbors and parents of her classmates.
Police Chief Joseph Kletch of Bethel Park said the bus driver, whom he declined to identify, didn't learn of the accident until he returned to the bus garage 90 minutes later and was met by police.
There were a final few articles to check out in the investigation, Kletch said, but "to this point, we find no real negligence on the part of the driver and anticipate no filing of charges."
An irony to the near-tragedy is that the driver - Mrs. Hulet and other parents say his name is Bill - has befriended nearly every one of the children he transports, calling each by name.
"Bill called this morning and said how sorry he was that it happened," she said. "He said how fond he was of her..."
"Bill has a little grandson in California who has cancer and has been in intensive care all week. Being close to the children who ride his bus kind of makes up for his grandchildren being so far away."
Kletch said the driver "seems to be a very personable man who gets involved with the children and makes their ride to and from school enjoyable, which is important, when it involves 5-year-olds like Sunshine."
He said the driver waved to the children who stayed on the side of the street on which they got off, tooted goodbye on the horn and pulled out.
Mrs. Hulet said Sunshine apparently dropped her umbrella as she was about to clear the front of the bus.
"Only two other kids crossed with her, her friend Erin Poses, and a little boy who's in the second grade, I think. The way I understand it, he (the driver) looked to wave to those who didn't cross and didn't see Sunshine."
"Sunshine's friend, Karen Jodoin, was seated at the back of the bus and felt a bump and looked out the window and saw Sunshine lying on the ground. She said Erin was waving her hands for another car coming along to stop."
The accident occurred in front of the home of Peter and Robin Poses, parents of Erin, on Braun Road.
"Sunshine comes to our house on Mondays to play with Erin until her mother gets home from work," Mrs. Poses said.
Mrs. Poses said Erin "isn't saying too much about it. I'm not even sure she saw it. I found her crying in her room last night but she doesn't care to discuss it."
Mrs. Jodoin said for Karen, the incident was "like an adventure to her, everyone asking her to tell what happened. I think she really thought Sunshine had just fallen down.
"When she looked out the bus window, she couldn't really see it was Sunshine, but knew it was her from her yellow book bag on the ground.
"But when she heard yesterday that she was getting a little better, Karen was really happy."
Dr. Edwin Merritt, superintendent of Bethel Park schools, said a close watch is being kept on Sunshine's classmates for any adverse psychological reactions to the accident.
"We've been in touch with all the parents and have asked them to stay in touch with us should they observe any problems," he said."
He said all aspects of bus safety training, both from the drivers' and students' standpoint, "are getting an exhaustive look."
Mrs. Poses said that residents along Braun have been "fighting" to have a school crossing guard placed at the stop, as well as the next one, where Mitch Haven Drive runs into Braun.
The speed limit on Braun is 35 mph, and she said she has seen cars on many occasions "drive right by a (stopped) school bus. And we have so many buses that use Braun - from St. Louise de Marillac, St. Valentine's and all the Bethel Park schools.
"But I certainly wouldn't say that a school guard could have prevented what happened to Sunshine."
However, Kletch said that Sgt. Lois Heckman, who has been in charge of crossing guards for years, does not recall any request for a crossing guard for either location.
"When a request is made, a full evaluation is made of the situation, including a traffic survey. If the situation warrants a school guard, one is placed, "Kletch said.
Hulet, a Westinghouse Electric Corp. engineer who was transferred to Bettis Atomic Power Lab in West Mifflin, said the move was temporary and family will soon return to Idaho.
Doctors "really, really don't know" why Sunshine lost the movement of her legs, he said.
"The X-rays showed micro-cracks in four vertebrae, but the problem would come from the higher part of the spine, where the controls for her legs would be," he said, repeating a doctor's theory.
"But when she was being moved in her bed yesterday (Tuesday) she could move her toes one at a time. She had control of that. But there was severe pain with it and she didn't want to do that."
But that she did do it has brought smiles and hope all along Country and Mitch Haven and Braun Road."
These photos aren't in recovery order...sorry. And remember, this is 1983.
This is my physical therapist trying to teach me how to walk again. I still have that little walker!
I had a body cast on for weeks (from my chest to my knees). I think this photo was taken soon after getting that stupid cast off. Can you say whole body itch??
(Ballerina till the end! Notice the ballet slippers!)
Lying in a bed for weeks gets boring when you are 5, especially when Popeye cartoons start repeating.
On a cruise around the hospital. I loved getting out of my hospital room, as long as it wasn't going to physical therapy!
The ballet slippers are still on! HA!
Since I'm 2 Blessings behind in my 52 Blessings Project, this week and last week's Blessings are my able body. I think that counts as 2!! As much as I complain about how my body looks, I am SO thankful that I made a full recovery and regained complete control of my body. I can deal with the left-over problems I have. The doctors didn't know if I would ever be able to walk again, so I DANCED instead! Seriously, if you tell me I can't do something, I fixate on it until I finally have to just do it. Sometimes it's a good thing (like helping the full recovery) but mostly it's not. Oh well. I'm gonna go turn up the music and dance now.
