GRAHAM, N.C. — A Triad school bus driver said he's barely slept since his bus crashed while kids were on board Thursday morning.
75-year-old Ronald Farrow said it all happened out of nowhere - he felt his bus shift before he ran off Highway 87 and crashed into a building in Graham.
"It just happened so quick, you know, and there I was down in that ditch, going down across that field there, and kids was hooping and hollering," he recalled.
He said at that moment all he could think about was making sure his bus didn't flip over.
"I had those kids on my mind, and it's a situation that - you just have to deal with it, and it's hard to deal with," Farrow said. "I don't want parents to have hard feelings against me for this because they could have lost a child, but God made sure - he kept an angel around them and all."
Farrow said he's been so worried about his bus riders since the accident and he thinks of them like his own children.
"Those kids, I consider they belong to me and see them every morning," Farrow said. "My wife will tell you, I pray every morning that God will bring them kids in safe and sound and take them back safe and sound."
Farrow said he believes his back right tire blew out, which caused him to veer off the roadway. Highway Patrol hasn't been able to confirm that and is still investigating the cause of the crash. Highway Patrol said the bus went off the road, hit a concrete culvert, and then hit the building.
Eighteen B. Everett Jordan Elementary students were on board. Seven went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Farrow said he wants parents to know that nothing like this has ever happened before in his time as a bus driver.
"I hate it happened, but there's nothing I can do about it, and I want the parents to know that I'm really sorry about what took place and all," Farrow said. "You know, I've been doing this for a long time and I love my job."
Troopers charged Farrow with failure to maintain his lane.
Farrow has been driving for the school system since 2010.
As of Friday, four students remain in the hospital. Three have been able to go home.
