In his short 13 years of life, Dillon Reeves has driven a car, a side-by-side 4-wheeler, a golf cart and now a school bus.
On April 26, the seventh-grade student was riding the school bus home when he noticed the driver was losing consciousness. Springing into action, the young teen instinctually knew exactly how to slowly bring the bus to a stop, saving the lives of 66 children, and the life the driver.
Hailed a hero for his quick response to a crisis situation, Reeves, a student at Lois E Carter Middle School in Warren MI, was on the school bus with the other children when he noticed something was awry with the driver.
Surveillance video captured from the camera over the driver’s head, shows her struggling to keep her head up. The relatively new driver, starting in July 2022, can then be heard on a call, saying “I’m feeling really dizzy, I’m going to have to pull over.”
Less than one minute after making that call, her head falls and her hands slip from the steering wheel, causing the bus to veer off course.
Only seconds after her head drops, Dillon appears and taking control, he pulls the breaks and the usually soft-spoken boy takes command over his panicked passengers, and shouts, “Someone call 911! NOW!” Then responding to students who are (inaudibly) yelling back, Reeves can again be heard saying, “I don’t care! Someone call 911!”
Speaking with Fox News in Detroit, Dillon said, “Honestly I didn’t really drive it, I just took over steering wheel and I stopped it before it hit a car…it was really close, if I wasn’t there I know that it would’ve been a complete disaster.” Saying he was only thinking about “the right thing” to do, he continued, “(I was) a little more worried about rest of students on the bus, especially the bus driver because…I didn’t know if she was having a panic attack or a seizure.”
While on the show, Dillon received a proclamation for heroism from Warren Mayor James Fouts, who said that so far, is his youngest recipient.
In a press conference, Robert D. Livernoist, Warren Consolidated Schools superintendent, praised Reeves, who from his seat five rows back, “jumped up from his seat, threw his backpack down, ran to the front of the bus, grabbed the steering wheel and brought the bus to a stop in the middle of the road.” Livernoist continued, “He had the wherewithal to push (the brake) slowly, likely in anticipation that the bus was full of passengers.”
Dillon’s parents said they don’t know what compelled their son into action, but his dad said he’s a very observant kid, who doesn’t have a cellphone to distract him.
“We’ve got a little hero,” Dillon’s dad Steve told reporters. “He’s been on my lap driving country roads, pulling into driveways since about four years old. … He’s a good driver.”
In addition to his driving skills, Dillon is a young hockey player, who following the incident, says he’s considering a career as a firefighter or a police officer.
Warren Fire Commissioner Skip McAdams confirmed with CNN that none of the students were injured in the incident and that the driver, whose name will not be released, was taken to the hospital is “stable but with precautions.”
“It was a lot to go through for some of the other students,” said the little hero, accepting the title of hero. “I’m proud of myself, I definitely improved through my life and I’m just proud of myself.”
Without question, Dillon Reeves is an exceptional, mature 13-year-old. Considering that he says he’s “improved” in only 13 short years, it will be fascinating to see what he does over the next few decades!
