Bus driver heralded as hero after she saves 32 kids after fuel line breaks

HAMILTON, Va — A Virginia bus driver has garnered a lot of attention online after her daughter posted an image of her smiling in a hospital bed hours after she saved 32 kids on her bus after a fuel line leak.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror reported Michele Coates smelled smoke and was told by the students on her Loudoun County, Va., school bus that they noticed smoke and possibly flames on Friday. Coates immediately pulled over the bus and got the students off safely, but felt ill and was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

"It's something you never expect to happen and you never thought you would encounter," Coates told the Times-Mirror. "It was very scary. My only thought was all these dear children's lives are in my hands and I have to save them."

All of the kids got off the bus safely, but 17 of the students were also taken to the hospital with symptoms related to exposure to the fumes. "I kept asking if all the kids were safe," Coates said. "Even in the ambulance and the hospital I kept asking."

Coates' daughter, Autumn Echols, posted the photo of her in the hospital on Imgur, and the photo has garnered more than 1.4 million views as of Tuesday. "I just posted it to show just a few people," Echols told WUSA. "To say my mom is a hero. I thought it would make her happy. I wasn't expecting that many people."

WUSA reported that the school district blamed the fuel line break on "typical wear and tear," and the bus has been taken off the road for repairs. A bus driver in Maryland was also called a hero after she saved 20 kids on a school bus that caught on fire earlier this month.

My mom smiling after saving 40 kids off a burning school bus today

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