Ebro Ahmed, 27, Jumped Onto a Rolling St. Paul School Bus With 19 Middle Schoolers Aboard After the Driver Had a Medical Emergency

At about 3:17 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, a St. Paul Public Schools bus rolled slowly past a corner store in the city’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood with its door open and a driver in the middle of a medical emergency. Nineteen middle schoolers were on board.

Outside the store, on a break, was Ebro Ahmed, 27, who had never driven a bus in his life. He jumped on and got it stopped, and no one was hurt, MPR News reported.

A Bus Rolling With Its Door Wide Open

Ahmed works at his family’s corner store, Ya Bricks Snacks and Tobacco. He was kicking a soccer ball outside when he noticed the bus creeping by, MPR reported.

He could see that the driver appeared to be having a seizure, according to Good Morning America. Inside, some children were screaming while others stayed calm.

Ahmed told FOX 9 that in the moment he second-guessed himself, wondering whether he was reading the situation correctly and even whether it might be a prank. He went anyway. Surveillance video shows him running to the moving bus and jumping on.

Reverse, Then Neutral, Then the Brake

Ahmed had no experience behind the wheel of a bus. His first move went wrong: he accidentally shifted into reverse. He then put the bus in neutral and set the parking brake, FOX 9 and MPR reported.

He did not do it alone. Ahmed told GMA that two girls sitting near the front of the bus helped him, and he handed one of them his phone and glasses to hold while he worked. One of the students called police.

The students were Battle Creek Middle School students, according to FOX 9, which put the number on board at 19, matching MPR’s count. Other outlets that picked up the story gave slightly different totals, with WSB-TV reporting 18 and GMA saying about 20.

Ahmed credited his calm partly to the TV medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” which he said teaches tips that stay with a person for life, ABC30 reported. He also pointed to his Muslim faith and to the Eritrean American youth group Denden Sports Club, where his coaches taught lessons he carried into that moment. Ahmed is originally from Eritrea and grew up in St. Paul.

When Someone Appears to Have a Seizure

Ahmed said the driver appeared to be having a seizure, though the reports did not say what caused the emergency. The scene is one many families never think to prepare for, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers simple first-aid steps that older kids and teens can learn.

The CDC advises staying calm, staying with the person, clearing away nearby objects that could cause injury and gently rolling the person onto their side if they are lying down, to keep the airway clear. Timing the seizure matters. The agency says never to hold the person down or put anything in their mouth.

It also lists clear reasons to call 911, including a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes, trouble breathing or failure to wake up afterward, an injury during the seizure, or a person who has never had a seizure before. On the St. Paul bus, a student made that call to police while Ahmed brought the bus to a stop.

What the District Says Happened Next

Saint Paul Public Schools confirmed that the driver had a medical emergency, that paramedics responded and that no injuries were reported. Some of the students walked home, and another bus took the rest. Counselors checked in with students the following day.

Paramedics took the driver for medical care. The driver was later released from the hospital and was resting at home, a district spokesperson said. The district called Ahmed a hero for helping the driver and making sure the students got home safely.

For parents of the children on that bus, the afternoon could have ended very differently. A rolling bus with an open door and no one in control is the kind of scene no family wants to imagine. Instead, the district reported no injuries.

A $1,000 Reward and a Visit From Superman

Word of what Ahmed did spread fast. On Thursday, Oct. 22, media maker and philanthropist Sheletta Brundidge surprised him at work with a $1,000 check and a guest in costume: professional Superman performer Brian Lepel. Brundidge pointed out that Ahmed could have run inside, called 911 and let someone else handle it.

He has also received a Humanitarian Hero Award from the Human Development Fund, FOX 9 reported.

Ahmed has been modest about all of it. He told MPR that the situation was crazy but that his reaction was what anybody would have done, and he told FOX 9 that the attention has been a little overwhelming but rewarding. He described his choice as simply the human thing to do.

He plans to put the reward money toward a window tinting business, MPR reported, and told GMA he sees it as a way to support his community.

The children on that bus went home to their families that night. And the man who stopped it, a corner-store clerk on a soccer break, became the neighbor who did not wait for someone else to act.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons