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Local news story...these kids are real heroes!!   Bus driver goes into cardiac arrest

Romeoville High: Students praised for quick action; woman critical

By Catherine Ann Velasco STAFF WRITER

ROMEOVILLE — Romeoville High School student Chris Kowal remembers saying good morning to his bus driver as he climbed on board Wednesday morning. About 15 seconds later, he saw her fall to the floor.

"I was taking out my flash cards for Spanish. She reached over to pull the door open and fell. I ran toward her," he said, dropping his flash cards.

While picking up students about 7:10 a.m. Wednesday, bus driver Phyllis Stoklosa of Romeoville, a longtime Valley View School District employee, went into cardiac arrest while picking up Romeoville High School students at Six Pines Drive and Naperville Road in Romeoville. Seventeen students were on the bus at the time, said Russell Fletcher, community relations specialist for the district.

Students came to her aid — one called 911 on her cell phone, and Kowal reached the transportation center by bus intercom. After treatment at the scene, Stoklosa was transported to Edward Hospital, where she was listed in critical but stable condition Thursday night.

"I'm glad it didn't happen when she was driving," Kowal said. "It was like the movies. My first reaction was that someone is falling off the step. Then I saw her on the floor.

"I looked behind the bus and saw a car. I told (the students waiting outside to get on the bus) to go get an adult quickly," Kowal recalled.

Meanwhile, he reached the school district's dispatch, who talked him through safety steps, making sure the bus had its emergency brakes on, which it did.

The adult in the car behind the bus stayed with the students and helped hold Stoklosa's head until paramedics arrived.

'Quick response' James Mitchem, principal at Romeoville High School, was very proud of the students. "The paramedics said their quick response afforded them enough time for paramedics to save her life," Mitchem said. "If she had been in that state for a long time, she may not have survived. "They didn't panic. They just took action, and that was great," he said.

Mitchem said Stoklosa was at the route's last bus stop when she collapsed. He credits Stoklosa for following procedure and putting the bus in neutral and putting the emergency brake on at the stop.

"The driver should be commended. It would have been easy to step on the brake and open the door," Mitchem said.

Students were later recognized over the school's public-address system. Mitchem said some doctors want to give the students a lunch.

Romeoville Mayor Fred Dewald, who works in the transportation department for Valley View, said during Wednesday night's village board meeting that he plans to honor the students at a future meeting.

"We are very, very proud of the students on the bus. They took exceptional steps," said Derrick Berlin, assistant transportation director for special services.

Berlin said students practice bus evacuation drills twice a year. They are taught how to evacuate a bus when there is a fire or an accident. They are also taught how to use the intercom and how to secure the bus, such as checking to see if the emergency brake is on.

Veteran driver Berlin described Stoklosa as a kind and caring woman who has worked for the district for 25 1/2 years.

She is currently the longest-serving driver in the Valley View transportation department, having started her career in October 1979. She has trained innumerable bus drivers during her service in the department, Fletcher said.

"I've been here about 10 months, and in the first couple of weeks she made window curtains for my office all on her own," Berlin said. "Everybody loves her. She is a very, very pleasant, wonderful lady that everyone gravitates to."

Stunned students Bethany Benigno, 14, a freshman, was the first to reach emergency personnel on her cell phone.

"She was always cheerful," Benigno said about Stoklosa. "She would give us candy canes for Christmas and bookmarks all the time."

After the paramedics came, the school district sent another bus to take the students to school, where they met with counselors in the auditorium.

"Everyone was kind of freaked out about seeing something like that," Benigno said.

Students were given a choice to go home or go to their classes. She decided to stay in school.

"There was no real point of going home," she said.

Kowal is still stunned by what happened.

"That's a life-changing experience. Anything can happen in any moment of life. Fifteen seconds could be the moment of living and dying," Kowal said. "You don't know what can happen."

Cathy Velasco can be reached at (815) 729-6051 or via e-mailat cvelasco@scn1.com.

02/18/05