TINA PRICE-GENES, Aliquippa School Board President, is consoled by a parent of one of the Aliquippa football coaches, hours after a bus crash injured many of the junior high school football players, Aug. 23. (Photo by Rob Taylor Jr.)
Two people remain in hospital as of Aug. 26
As Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker said, the people in the Beaver County town are “two to three degrees of separation from each other, so if one goes down, it affects us all.”
He said that comment in what was a bad day for the people of Aliquippa, but it could have been even worse.
On Saturday morning, Aug. 23, 25 members of the Aliquippa Junior High football team boarded a school bus to head to Pine Richland, in the North Hills, to play an 11 a.m. scrimmage. Two coaches joined the team, and the bus driver. Off they went, through the back hills of the county to get to the North Hills. But around 10 a.m., on the winding Shaffer Road in Economy Borough, next to Ambridge, the bus crashed. Power lines came down near the bus.
Forget about the game; this was a serious situation.
Witnesses on the scene described some of the players on the bus having to jump over the downed, live power lines to get out of harm’s way. In all, 21 of the 28 people on the bus suffered injuries, many of whom were obviously football players. The bus driver was also injured. Most were examined at the hospital. One student underwent surgery, and as of New Pittsburgh Courier press time, Aug. 26, remained in critical condition at UPMC Children’s Hospital. A coach remained in Allegheny General Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit as of Aug. 26.
Everyone else is out of the hospital, and, for the most part, doing OK. About as OK as one can feel following that harrowing experience.
The person at UPMC Children’s Hospital has been identified as 14-year-old Az’riannah Gilbert, also known as Noni.
JAY SPARROW, SECOND FROM RIGHT, head coach of the Aliquippa Junior High School football team. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
There have been a few public meetings since the crash hosted by Aliquippa city and school officials. Seven hours after the crash on Aug. 23, Mayor Walker was joined in the Aliquippa City Building by, among others, some of the coaches, first responders and Aliquippa School Board President Tina Price-Genes.
“I am grateful to God today that our kids are alive,” Price-Genes said on Aug. 23. She also mentioned how everyone came together and showed support at the scene of the crash, such as the mayor of Economy Borough, who provided “water, chips, anything that you can think of.”
“We thank God for the first responders,” added Mayor Walker. “We thank God that they were there on scene administering aid to our babies. That’s the most important thing.”
A GOFUNDME ACCOUNT HAS BEEN STARTED TO ASSIST THE FAMILY OF 14-YEAR-OLD AZ’RIANNAH GILBERT. SHE WAS CRITICALLY INJURED IN THE BUS CRASH, AUG. 23. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
During a second public meeting held at the high school, Aug. 25, Aliquippa Schools Superintendent Dr. Phillip Woods told parents that the bus ended up wedged against a hillside after the crash. As for the video of the crash, he said that Pa. state police have the footage, but it has not been made public.
The bus company involved is ABC Transit. Dr. Woods read a statement from ABC Transit, which said in part that “the entire ABC Transit family expresses their deepest concern for students and coaches involved in the accident.” The driver, who has not been identified publicly, has been with ABC Transit for two years, according to published reports.
Most of the students involved in the crash have not spoken publicly. But examples of what they went through physically could be seen at the Aug. 25 meeting at the high school’s Black Box Theater. One student was wearing a wrist brace, another had their arm in a sling. During the Aug. 23 meeting at the Aliquippa City Building, one could see some students still wearing their UPMC Children’s Hospital temporary stick-on badge that was placed on their shirts after entering the hospital. At a prayer gathering later that evening, Aug. 23, football players like Brandon Rue, a seventh-grader, told reporters he had suffered a broken collarbone in the bus crash.
“I’m just thankful I’m still alive,” Rue told reporters.
While the entire Aliquippa community prays for the recovery of the 14-year-old girl, Gilbert, and the unidentified coach, there are a number of mental health counselors and other supports available for the students at the school (Aliquippa’s junior high school and high school students are in the same building).
“These kids saw some things, and we want to fill up their memory bank with good things,” Mayor Walker said on Aug. 23, hours after the crash.
The team’s head coach, Jay Sparrow, added: “It’s a long, long road (ahead), because the mental, that’s what I’m worried about for my kids, because they saw a lot today. Continue to pray for my kids.”
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