Students destined for Tennessee
take unimaginable ride
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD — A group of Washburn students destined for a competition in Tennessee, had their trip delayed Sunday as the bus they were on took them on a ride they never imagined they’d be taking — their driver suffered a medical issue and the vehicle veered off Route 1, striking a utility pole.
An SAD 45 bus, carrying 12 Washburn students and three adults, was involved in an accident on Route 1 in Westfield on Sunday, when the driver reportedly lost control due to a medical condition. Only the driver required medical attention. The group, destined for a competition in Tennessee, boarded a second bus and continued their journey a short time later.
The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department responded around 4:30 p.m. May 23 to the accident on Route 1 involving a 2008 Bluebird-model school bus that had struck a utility pole.
“An SAD 45 bus, from Washburn, was traveling south on Route 1, headed to Bangor. The operator of the vehicle, 44-year-old Darren Churchill, suffered an apparent medical problem and attempted to pull the bus over. Churchill was unable to pull the bus over to the side of the road and it ran off the road, went up an embankment and struck the pole,” said Deputy Forest Dudley, ACSO.
Dudley said the pole was broken off in three pieces, bringing down power wires and phone lines across Route 1, causing the road to be closed for about an hour and a half as crews worked to clear the lines and investigate the accident.
The passengers were reportedly shaken up by the incident.
“The bus had 12 students on it and three adults. All were able to get off the bus quickly and safely,” said Dudley. “The bus driver was transported to the hospital. There were no other injuries reported by the passengers of the bus.”
Churchill was transported by Crown Ambulance to The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle. He was admitted and remained hospitalized on Monday, undergoing tests. At presstime, hospital officials could only say he was being treated for an “undetermined condition.”
Dudley said a crew with the Mars Hill Fire Department quickly extinguished a grass fire that occurred as the result of the accident.
The students and adults had been on the road less than an hour when the accident took place. The group was traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., where the students were scheduled to join others in an international competition. Washburn High School’s Destination Imagination teams won earlier this year at the state level and were headed south to take on schools from the U.S. and other countries in the global finals. That competition is slated for May 26-29 at the University of Tennessee.
Another SAD 45 bus was sent to the scene, where all boarded and continued their journey to Bangor, where they joined other Maine teams, continuing the trip via Cyr Bus Lines.
The accident is being investigated by Deputy Ryan Doughty. He was assisted at the scene by members of the Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police and U.S. Border Patrol.
An estimate of the damage to the bus was not known at presstime.
