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Seventh graders save out-of-control bus after driver passes out

On Monday morning, a substitute bus driver in Milton, Washington, lost consciousness on his bus route. Two seventh graders took immediate action, saving the bus from what could have been a disaster.

A surveillance camera on the bus captured the scene:

The 43-year-old driver seized, his eyes rolling back in his head. A young student almost immediately ran to his side, grabbing the wheel and then trying to resuscitate the driver.

Another student, 13-year-old Jeremy Wuitschick, ran down the aisle from the back of the bus, taking the wheel just as the out-of-control bus was headed toward a church. He told KING 5 that his mother lets him drive in their driveway, giving him some experience behind the wheel.

"I'm just thinking I just want to stop the bus, because I don't want to crash and I don't want to know what it feels like — I just don't want to die," Jeremy said.

Seventh-grader Johnny Wood rushed to the front, too. Trained in CPR, he tried to help the driver.

"I ran up and tried doing chest compressions, but his eyes were rolling back and I could tell it was getting harder for him to breathe," Johnny told KIRO.

Other students on the bus called 911.

Jeremy managed to pull over the bus and bring it to a stop. No students were injured.

"We're just happy the kid was thinking on his feet," Police Chief Bill Rhoads told the Associated Press.

The driver was taken to a nearby hospital where Deputy Schools Superintendent Jeff Short says he's in "grave condition."