A bus driver in Akron, Ohio, was killed Tuesday morning after she heroically pushed a 10-year-old girl out of harm's way from a rolling bus during a routine school safety evacuation drill at Middlebury Academy.  

Reports said that at 8:10 a.m. on Sept. 16, 40 students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade were participating in the drill when the accident occurred. In what should have been a routine drill, they were outside the charter school and instructed to enter the bus single file and exit using the rear and side emergency doors by the driver.

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According to Lt. Rick Edwards, of the Akron police, the driver of the bus was 51-year-old Laura Zborowski.  He said she didn't have time to react to save herself when she pushed the child out of danger.  

Reportedly, the bus the children were exiting from unexpectedly began to roll backwards down the hill as the last girl was still trying to jump out to join her classmates on the sidewalk.
 
By tossing the little girl onto the lawn and out of harm's way, Zborowski sacrificed her own life when the bus rolled over her and crushed her instead.  Students stood helplessly by as the rolling bus finally came to a stop after running into a tree.

Zborowski was pronounced dead at nearby Suma Akron hospital two hours after the accident.

Edwards said that the Ohio State Highway Patrol will investigate the case and examine the mechanics of the bus to determine what caused it to malfunction and roll backwards. 

Meanwhile, the National Express Corp., the parent company of Ohio-based Petermann Bus, the private company where Zborowski was employed, said they will cooperate with authorities and they will also be conducting their own investigation.

The Akron school district will be sending grief counselors to Middlebury Academy to ensure the emotional health of the children and to lessen the impact of the trauma they witnessed.

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