Geplaatst:11 apr 2008 16:13 - Gewijzigd: 11 apr 2008 16:13

11-year-old boy cheered as hero

CLEVELAND - David Murphy seems perfectly happy letting someone else drive for now. The 11-year-old, who is being hailed as a hero for steering a runaway school bus full of children to safety, was last seen getting into the back of a limo and on his way to the airport.

Brian Seitz, a Cleveland lawyer representing the boy’s family, said the youngster had left for New York and was booked to appear Wednesday on ABC’s ”Good Morning America”. David was stone-faced in a hooded sweat shirt outside his Cleveland home Tuesday evening. „This is all so much”, said his mother, Patricia.

David, who was among 27 students headed to a charter school on Monday, when the driver stopped at a service station, pumped about $40 of fuel and went into the rest room while the bus was parked and running. In his absence, the bus began rolling about 300 feet down a side street that swoops through an industrial area and was on a collision course with a semitrailer.

David told police he first tried to pull the emergency brake. When that didn’t work, he grabbed the wheel and stopped the bus by guiding it into a bridge’s concrete support pillar. „He veered the bus into the last possible pillar”, said Cleveland Fire Department spokesman Larry Gray. „He was a shy kid. I don’t think he grasped the magnitude of what he did.”

It’s not clear why the bus started to roll, police Lt. Thomas Stacho said. Investigators did not find any mechanical problems and a gas station employee watching the bus said none of the children appeared to tamper with anything, he said.

Many of the students screamed, and some jumped out as the bus rolled. Fifteen were checked later at hospitals, but severe injuries were avoided. „We are excited that every one of those kids went home, and we spoke with all of their families today”, Head of School Alexis Rainbow said Tuesday.

The driver, Michael Weir, 57, will be cited for leaving a vehicle unattended with the keys in the ignition and for registration violations, Cleveland police spokesman Thomas Stacho said Tuesday.

Weir has a valid commercial driver’s license but wasn’t registered with the state as required, police said. His license was suspended for six months in 2006 and was reissued July 16. (World)