School Bus Driver, Aide Honored for Helping Save Student’s Mother
Skip Torpey and Linda Harris of New York are being recognized for helping save a student’s mother who went unconscious during their bus route last month.
Sadiah Thompson・Assistant Editor
May 10, 2019
Scio Central School District bus driver Skip Torpey (pictured center in blue) and bus aide Linda Harris (pictured left in orange) were recognized for helping save a student’s mother who went unconscious during their bus route last month. Photo courtesy Doreen Martin
2 min to read
Scio Central School District bus driver Skip Torpey (pictured center in blue) and bus aide Linda Harris (pictured left in orange) were recognized for helping save a student’s mother who went unconscious during their bus route last month. Photo courtesy Doreen Martin
SCIO, N.Y. — A school bus driver and bus aide are being recognized for helping save a student’s mother who went unconscious during their bus route last month.
On April 18, Skip Torpey, a driver with Scio Central School District, was dropping off his last pre-K student when he and the bus aide, Linda Harris, noticed that the student’s mother did not come out to greet the bus like she normally does, WKBWreports. Harris then walked up to the house and found the student’s mother lying unconscious on the garage floor, according to the news source.
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While Harris stayed with the student, Torpey advised the district’s bus garage to call 911, and then began to administer CPR for about eight minutes until she was revived, WKBW reports. Emergency personnel arrived shortly after, according to The Wellsville Daily.
Torpey, 74, told the newspaper that it "felt like it was hours and hours" before he was able to revive the student’s mother, and that he kept talking to her saying, “Come on, Easter is here, your child needs you.” Torpey added that he was glad he was able to save the student's mother, who has since made a full recovery, but was still “pretty shaken up” when he returned to the district’s bus garage.
On Thursday, students, faculty, and staff honored Torpey and Harris for their heroic actions by greeting them at the district's bus loop with high-fives, hugs, and words of appreciation, according to a post on Scio Central School District’s Facebook page. The district said in the post that “we thought the best way to thank them was by having our students and staff brighten their day.”
View photos of Torpey and Harris, posted on Scio Central School District's Facebook page, below.
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