School bus driver reunited with good Samaritan who jumped in to help after violent crash
Exactly one month ago, a school bus slammed into a steel sign along Ardmore Boulevard in Forest Hills.
A stranger driving by saw it happen and ran to help. Today, the school bus driver and the good Samarian met for the very first time as friends.
“Hey there, how are you,” said Kenny Ferree.
“I’m fine,” said Rick Smail. “Thank you.”
Ferree stepped right back into Smail’s life. Both are feeling grateful for this moment. The last time these two saw each other was here on Ardmore Boulevard on Oct. 19. Cellphone video shows Ferree climbing over the mangled bus to get to Smail.
“He saw that I was bleeding,” said Smail. “He took his shirt off his own back to bind up my wounds. He stayed there with me until help came.”
Ferree says it felt like they chatted for an hour, but he knew it was only minutes.
“He kept asking what happened,” said Ferree. “I said ‘Well, you had a fender-bender.’ He says, ‘Is the bus OK?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s why we have insurance companies and that’s why we have body shops.’ Little white lie. I knew it was bad.”
Then Ferree asked Smail a question: are there any kids on your bus?
“No kids,” said Ferree. “No kids. No kids. He just kept repeating that.”
Smail says he had just finished dropping off around 40 kids.
“I’m so thankful that they were not on the bus because it would have been a disaster,” said Smail.
Cameras on the school bus recorded what happened as Smail had a heart attack.
“I let out a sound and I passed out,” said Smail. “So now my bus is rolling down Ardmore Boulevard. Nobody to brake, nobody to steer.”
While he was not in control, he believes someone else was.
“There are just so many so many instances of the mercy in God,” said Smail. “Grace of God. There’s no other explanation for that. I mean, I shouldn’t be here except for the mercy of God and the grace of God, and I’m so thankful.”
Smail says he doesn’t remember the crash. What he does remember is Kenny Ferree, a man he’ll never forget.
“You know some people say the right place at the right time,” said Ferree. “I guess that’s true, but to react and act on the right place at the right time, and to follow through and to give your name, and to help and to be there regardless of what the situation calls. It’s OK to say ‘right place at the right time,’ but you better be prepared to act.”
“Oh, we’re going to have a lot of coffees together,” said Smail.
Besides several gashes, Smail broke 12 ribs. He spent two weeks in the hospital and another week doing in-patient rehab. He has not been cleared to drive yet. Ferree and his wife drove Smail to get coffee at the Taco Bell on Ardmore Boulevard, and they’re planning on getting together for dinner next.
Smail and Ferree feel they were destined to meet. Ferree is no stranger to heart attacks, as he previously had a large “widow-maker” heart attack.
“He was trying to explain to me about his stents,” said Ferree. “I said, brother, I got you beat. Six stents, five heart attacks later, here I am.”
Ferree also says he met his wife 25 years ago on the same street as Smail’s home.
“It’s a small world, isn’t it?,” said Smail.
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