Feel-Good News: Mich. District Honors Terminally Ill Bus Driver

In a story that traveled across the country, one Michigan school bus driver has been honored by his peers in a touching message of love and encouragement earlier this month.

Mike Hoekstra has been a driver for almost 10 years for Hudsonville Public Schools. Now, he faces stage-four colon cancer, according to an MLive article.

Hoekstra believed he was just going to take a hot air balloon ride to tick it off his bucket list. But then he saw the surprise laid out below in the form of the school’s buses. About 50 of the district’s drivers, mechanics, and school staff gathered together to share how much they love him.

Twenty-eight of the school’s buses were arranged to spell out “we love you.”

“I was really, really struck by that," Hoekstra said in a Fox17 post.

In a Facebook post in a private school bus driver’s group, district mechanic Brandon Van Strien wrote: “Showing one of our drivers who’s fighting for life with cancer our love and support. The first picture is from him while taking a ride in a hot air balloon with seeing this as a surprise and the other one is a drone view.”

The team arranged the bus display at the Hudsonville Community Fairgrounds and used a drone to check their work prior to the balloon flight. 

It’s not the first time the school showed up in a public display of support for one of their own. Two years ago when another driver died unexpectedly of cancer, the other drivers held a parade past their home. 

The loving display is a reminder of how much the support of one’s colleagues can mean to a single individual.