JCPS student survives deadly bus crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – The driver of an SUV involved in a crash with a Jefferson County Public Schools bus died from her injuries.

Around 1:30 p.m., the coroner’s office identified the woman as 32-year-old Shan’l Autumn Newberry.

The crash happened around 6:45 a.m. at Ballardsville Road and Hickory Forest Drive.

LMPD spokeswoman Beth Ruoff said the bus was attempting to cross Ballardsville Road from Hickory Forest Drive to Silver Wing Boulevard when it was T-boned by a Kia heading eastbound on Ballardsville Road.

Bus 0778 was carrying approximately 60 students to Ballard High School and Kammerer Middle School, JCPS spokeswoman Renee Murphy said.

Norton Healthcare spokeswoman Maggie Roetker said 14 children who were passengers on the bus were treated at Norton Children’s Hospital downtown campus and the Norton Children’s Medical Center on Chamberlain Lane. Roetker said all of the patients are in good condition.

Murphy said the students’ injuries ranged from bumps and bruises to broken bones.

David Valladares, 16, survived the crash and suffered bruises on his back and legs.

Valladares said he got on the bus shortly before the crash and was sitting in the back. He told WAVE 3 News he remembers hearing car horns honking and people screaming, before waking up in the front of the bus.

“All of sudden, I blacked out for maybe ten seconds or something and I’m way at the front of the bus,” Valladares said. “And, I don’t know how I got there. I don’t know if I slid or fell through the air. I don’t know what happened.”

Valladares said he borrowed a classmate’s phone to call his father and explain what happened. Shortly after, a medical bus transported him and 10 others to Norton Children’s Hospital downtown.

He spent a few hours in the hospital, before being released. Physically, he feels sore, but emotionally he is still coming to terms with what he experienced.

“It was just like all sort of like a blur, but I traveled from the very back to the very front and I hit my head on the floor pretty badly,” Valladares said. “It could’ve been the end. You can’t take life for granted, because it could all end in a snap.”

Murphy told WAVE 3 News several students involved in the crash did attend school Tuesday.

She said crisis counselors were made available to students at both schools and will remain present for as long as students need them.

“We know what that can be like for a student, how difficult that can be,” Murphy said. “So the counselors will be there to help talk to students. If they have concerns to work with students about any questions they may have. Questions of ‘Why? How did this happen?’ The range of emotions that students might be going through right now. So we have the counselors in place to help.”