West Brook Bus Crash Families
Texas Chapter of National Coalition For School Bus Safety
SafeBuses4Kids

OUR STORY

We are the families of the Beaumont West Brook High School girls' soccer team. On the afternoon of March 29, 2006, the bus transporting 23 of our daughters and their two coaches to a playoff game in Houston overturned, killing two of our children and maiming and injuring the others.

The motor coach (the technical term for this charter bus according to the US Dept of Transportation) that carried our daughters did not have seatbelts of any kind. The oversized windows, making up approximately 50% of the side area of the bus, were not impact resistant and were merely glued to the outside of the bus as opposed to being installed in a framework. When, according to the preliminary DPS report, the bus driver took “faulty evasive action,” the bus rolled over on its left side and 25 passengers were thrown from their seats. The windows shattered into shards of glass. Bodies, equipment, books, purses, even seats flew through the air landing on each other in a tumult of glass and asphalt. As the bus slid toward the ditch, our children were pummeled as if they were in a washing machine spin cycle.

Ashley and Alicia were ejected from the motor coach and crushed, their bodies coming to rest under the debris. Devin and Allison were ejected, their left arms sucked under the frame of the bus and their bodies dragged beneath the bus as it skidded, mangling each of their left arms and causing serious head injuries. Still alive, both girls were pinned underneath the bus. Devin was trapped in a bed of fire ants. Allison was pinned upside down in a headstand. It took rescuers over an hour to free them. Sarah's ear was torn from her head, her head violently gashed. Shoulders, ribs and knees cracked, glass shards the size of fists lodged in backs and legs, the beautiful faces of youth shredded on the pavement.

In the immediate aftermath, some girls attempted to revive their dead teammates. Others tried to free their trapped friends and comfort them in their pain. Still others tried to lead the wounded to rescue. Blood and tears mixed with mud and raindrops. As parents, we shudder at the horror of the scene.


We buried our precious Ashley and Alicia. Of the 21 survivors, all received medical treatment of some kind. The more seriously injured spent a combined total of 86 days in the hospital including intensive care. Four of the girls have endured a combined 14 surgeries to save and in some way rebuild bodies maimed by the accident. Over eight months of school instructional days were missed prior to the close of the school year. Literally millions of dollars in medical expenses have been expended and those costs continue.

Devin's arm was amputated. For Allison, only time, therapy and perhaps more surgeries will determine functionality. There were multiple head injuries, some requiring plastic surgery and stitches. For some, the “road rash,” pieces of glass and asphalt imbedded in flesh, was so severe that it had to be removed by surgery or by a special hydraulic procedure under anesthesia. There have been hours of physical therapy, thousands of stitches, bandages, crutches and wheelchairs. And there has been pain - lots of pain - both physical and emotional. The girls, their families and coaches have spent hours in counseling and therapy sessions. As one can expect, both the physical and emotional scars of the tragedy will last a lifetime.

And this was a “small” bus. It carried only half the passengers that a regular size bus would carry.