‘A miracle’: Bus driver’s heroic actions in fatal Ohio crash
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — A man is being called a hero in the aftermath of the tragic crash on I-70 that left six people, including three students, dead on Tuesday.
Don Wagler was driving the charter bus ferrying 57 people, including Tuscarawas Valley High School band members, to a conference in Columbus when the crash took place just before 9 a.m. in Etna. Despite sustaining injuries in the collision, and later being hospitalized, his wife told FOX 8 how Don sprung into action getting the bus door open immediately.
Fatal I-70 bus crash: How Tusky Valley victims are being remembered
“With four broken bones in one leg, his main concern was the kids. They came first and he did a good job,” Ellen Wagler told FOX 8’s Stefani Schaefer Wednesday.
WJW photo Both directions of Interstate 70 are closed in Licking County, Ohio, near the State Route 310 interchange after a fatal accident on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. A charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on the Ohio highway. (Barbara Perenic/The Columbus Dispatch via AP) WJW photo People embrace during a community prayer vigil, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, at the Tuscarawas Valley Schools football stadium in Zoarville, Ohio. A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway earlier in the day, leaving several people dead and multiple others injured. (Andrew Dolph/Times Reporter via AP) Six candles are lit to remember the deceased during a community prayer vigil, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, at the Tuscarawas Valley Schools football stadium in Zoarville, Ohio. A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway earlier in the day, leaving several people dead and multiple others injured. (Andrew Dolph/Times Reporter via AP) Students walk on the football field during a community prayer vigil, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, at the Tuscarawas Valley Schools football stadium in Zoarville, Ohio. A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway earlier in the day, leaving several people dead and multiple others injured. (Andrew Dolph/Times Reporter via AP) Both directions of Interstate 70 are closed in Licking County, Ohio, near the State Route 310 interchange after a fatal accident on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. A charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on the Ohio highway. (Barbara Perenic /The Columbus Dispatch via AP) Both directions of Interstate 70 are closed in Licking County, Ohio, near the State Route 310 interchange after a fatal accident on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. A charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on the Ohio highway. (Barbara Perenic /The Columbus Dispatch via AP) Both directions of Interstate 70 are closed in Licking County, Ohio, near the State Route 310 interchange after a fatal accident on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. A charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on the Ohio highway. (Barbara Perenic /The Columbus Dispatch via AP) A fiery crash on I-70 West involving a charter bus and a semi has closed the highway in both directions. (Courtesy Photo/Adam Layton)
Don is still in a hospital in Columbus, Ellen said, and although he’s unable to get out of bed, he is now able to sit up and eat.
“We are getting messages from all over the state; people are so wonderful,” Ellen said. “We are hoping for a speedy recovery. He is a miracle. If you saw the front of the bus.”
An investigation is ongoing as federal and state officials alike work to figure out how the crash took place.
Those Tusky Valley students killed in the crash include senior John W. Mosley, senior Jeffery “JD” Worrell and sophomore Katelyn Owens. Dave Kennat, a teacher at the school was killed in a separate vehicle, as well as two chaperones Kristy Gaynor and Shannon Wigfield.
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