THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090379
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
In the chaotic moments after a tractor-trailer slammed into the Northampton County school bus he was riding, 14-year-old Michael Loper revealed a lot about himself.
That he was resourceful under pressure. Compassionate. And unafraid.
``I knew it was going to hit,'' Loper, of Cape Charles, said Wednesday. ``So what was there to be frightened about?''
The Northampton High School freshman was sitting in his regular seat in the middle of the bus Monday, looking out the back windows, when the crash occurred.
Glass shattered on impact. Metal crumbled as seats, and the children in them, tangled together.
Then the crying started. One girl, pinned in the wreckage, called for her mother again and again. A trapped boy cried, ``Just get me out.'' The bus driver, crushed against the dash, yelled to the children, ``Get off!''
As other students left the bus to stand, shocked, on the far side of a deep ditch, Loper jumped into action. He grabbed road flares from the emergency kit and put them on the road to warn motorists of the accident.
Soon, other school buses cruising along Route 13 stopped, as well as a Delmarva Power truck. The Delmarva employee had a tool kit. So Loper and two adults began to disassemble one of the bus seats in an attempt to free a trapped child.
Ambulances started arriving. One of Cheriton's rescue workers recognized Loper and ordered him to help set up the portable generator. He did, hooking up pressure hoses so the metal cutters could slice through the frame of the emergency exit and free the pinned students.
Then Loper helped ease stretchers loaded with injured friends out of the bus.
``What didn't you do that day?'' his mother, Fran Loper, said as she listened to her son's story.
Michael, who enjoys repairing lawn mower engines in his spare time, shrugged. Bragging about his accomplishments just wasn't his style.
His mother was gratified but unsurprised by reports from school administrators and rescue workers about her son's actions. That's just the way he is, she said.
``He'll help you into a coma. He can't do enough,'' she said, teasing. ``If he has something to do, or can help somebody, that's when he's happiest.''
When School Superintendent Dawn Goldstine arrived at the accident scene Monday, Loper asked her if there was anything else he could do.
``I thought he was a member of the rescue squad,'' said Goldstine. When she realized he was a student, she grabbed him by the hand and talked him into getting into an ambulance. ``She kept saying, `I want you to go. I want you to go,' '' said Loper.
The driver, Doris Walton, and 38 students were taken to Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital after the 3:35 p.m. crash. All are expected to recover fully.
Loper didn't cry until he got to the hospital and the reality of what he had lived through set in. On Wednesday, his neck still sore, he said he wants to start volunteering for the fire and rescue squad when he turns 15 in August.
``I guess,'' he said, ``I just didn't know I could do that.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The Virginian-Pilot
Michael Loper revealed a lot about himself after the crash: He was
resourceful under pressure, compassionate and unafraid. As other
students left the bus to stand, shocked, on the far side of a deep
ditch, Loper jumped into action.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW ACCIDENT TRAFFIC by CNB