Positivity: Jeremy Hernandez
08/04/2007 08:46:33 PM CDT
Through the screams of terror, Jeremy Hernandez remained calm.
There were 60 some students and adults on the leased First Student bus as it headed home Wednesday after a fun, but tiring, day at a water park.
As the bus carrying the group from the Waite House Community Center crossed the Interstate 35W bridge in a southbound lane at 6 p.m., the structure collapsed. The bus dropped about 30 feet.
Kids screamed. Some had injuries. As the disaster engulfed them, Hernandez was determined he wasn’t going to die, nor would he let any of the children.
Springing from his seat in the back of the bus, the 20-year-old from South Minneapolis kicked open the rear emergency door and fought his way through debris to clear a path. With adrenaline shooting through his veins, he began plucking screaming children out of the bus. He handed the kids to Good Samaritans who had gathered on the concrete above to help.
“I thank God he was there with us on the bus to protect us,” Monica Segura said of Hernandez.
Segura, 19, worked with Hernandez at Waite House in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, one of six neighborhood centers operated by Pillsbury United Communities.
“We’ve had first-aid training, but you never hear what to do if the bridge falls off,” she said, which makes Hernandez’ actions all the more remarkable.
Until recently, Hernandez was an automotive student at Dunwoody Institute. He didn’t have enough money for tuition, so he dropped out. He got a job as a gym coordinator at Waite House. He said the kids he works with are family to him.
“They are like my brothers and little sisters. They are part of me,” said Hernandez, the fourth child in a family of six.Now, the wiry Hernandez is celebrated as a hero.
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