The school marching band was at a competition at Idaho State University yesterday and swept first place in all categories in their division. They were traveling home on I-15 in four buses when the driver of the second bus (from what the news is telling) blacked out due to a medical condition. Heather Christensen, the woodwind instructor, was sitting right by the driver and jumped up to try to regain control of the bus, and was killed when the bus crashed. She is being hailed as a hero and is credited for saving the lives of the students on the bus by her actions.
At first we thought it was Mrs. Christianson, a new young teacher who was a student teacher in Will's band last year and has been hired part time at the Jr. High. Since some Jr. High 9th graders are in the HS marching band, we thought the news was about her. Will was very upset! Then we found out that it was Ms. Christensen, the woodwind instructor at the HS. Both Helena and Will know her, too, though.
Here is a link to the Salt Lake Tribune's news article.
We got a phone call about 15 minutes after the crash. Helena answered the phone and immediately started crying and worrying about her friends in the band program. After a few stressed out minutes, I suggested she try calling their cell phones. She was able to reach her friend, Daniel, who is on the drum line. He told her he was in the bus immediately behind the one that crashed and that the crashed bus was the woodwind bus!
We then thought of Ellie and Sierra John and Aleen Day. They are girls in our ward who play woodwind instruments in the marching band. Helena has known them for half her life. Helena called her YW adviser and found out that Bro. and Sis. John had driven up to the competition, so Ellie and Sierra were riding home with their parents and weren't on the bus, but saw the crash.
Aleen was in the bus, though. She was one of the students who were life flighted to the hospital with back injuries! The information her family has sent out is that she seems to be okay and has been kept in the hospital overnight for observation. I can only imagine the stress to her family! I am sure they left immediately for Idaho. Aleen's mother has been battling breast cancer this past year. They didn't need any more on their plates!
This was just another example to me of how the world has changed! News and information is now instantly available. When President Hinkley died, we knew within moments of the news release because Helena's friends texted her. In fact, there was a fire storm of text at that occasion, as there was now. Phone calls, texts, and social networking sites spread the news throughout the community instantly. There was no agonized waiting at the school for parents to wait and hear which students were injured.
The high school students gathered at the school at midnight to welcome home the returning buses, and the students are all going to dress in Sunday best for school on Monday to Honor Ms. Christensen.
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