April 24--A volunteer firefighter in Arkansas rushed to the aid of a four-year-girl who fell from a school bus as he was driving behind the vehicle.
Fox 61 reports that firefighter and licensed EMT Ryan Ciampoli was driving down Highway 61 in Harrison with his dashcam running when the incident occurred. The dashcam video shows the horrifying moment when the rear door of the bus flies open and the girl begins to fall. The child then drops to the pavement as the bus continues driving away.
Ciampoli and a woman are seen rushing to the aid of the girl, who Ciampoli said was unconscious but began to wake when he approached her. He picked her up and carried her off the road, where he laid her on a truck bed in a nearby parking lot and got to work keeping her conscious and checking her vitals.
"Then the shock kicked in in her little body and she started kicking and screaming and (saying) 'Where's my mommy?' and things like that. Stuff like that is really heartbreaking," Ciampoli told Fox 61.
It took roughly five minutes for paramedics to arrive and transport the child to the hospital.
Her mother told Fox 61 that the girl has a broken jaw and will need surgery but is expected to be okay. She says she is not blaming the driver of the bus and she just wants to focus on her daughter's recovery. The girl's father says she should be released from the hospital on Monday.
