Schoolboy heroes 'simply doing their duty'

Oliver Tyack (left), Miles Broderick and Joseph Coddington say they were simply doing their duty when they jumped from the bus to help the three crash victims. Photo / Richard Robinson

Three teenage boys have been praised as heroes for rushing to help the dying and injured occupants of a car that hit their school bus.

Miles Broderick, 14, and Oliver Tyack and Joseph Coddington, both 15, were flung from their seats when a Subaru WRX crossed the centre line and hit their bus on Old North Rd, Kumeu, at 4.10pm on Thursday.

The Rosmini College boys reacted instantly, clambering out of the emergency exit to help the bus driver give first aid to the car's driver, who later died, and two seriously injured passengers.

The boys, who were on the bus with 18 other students from Rosmini, Carmel College, Westlake Girls and Westlake Boys, say they were simply doing their duty.

"I would rather have to cope with a couple of sleepless nights than have not done anything to help," said Joseph.

Miles said he looked up from loading his iPod to see a car cross the centre line on a tight bend and smash into the bus.

Seconds later, the three boys were clambering through the emergency exit.

They found the driver slumped in his nearly crushed car, which was wedged under the bus, and the two passengers.

Oliver said the sight of the accident was so shocking it didn't seem real.

His first thought was to get younger children on the bus away from the area.

"It's just disbelief. It's not something you would ever want to see. It was horrific. The car was crushed to half the size. There was blood everywhere.

"I just knew I had to get everyone away from there, to get the young kids out."

Miles went to help the car driver, who was later pronounced dead by emergency services staff.

All three helped to hold his head upright while the bus driver tried to check his pulse.

Oliver gave first aid to one of the passengers, who was unconscious and had badly bleeding head wounds, and Joseph kept the other passenger, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, awake until the emergency services arrived.

Despite their calm reaction to the ordeal, Joseph and Miles are haunted by their attempt to save the driver.

"It's hard knowing I was holding a guy who's dead in my arms," says Joseph. "It was such a horrific sight."

Instinct and adrenaline got them through the ordeal, said Oliver.

He and Miles received first-aid training as junior surf lifesavers

"I didn't think about anything," Oliver said. "It just felt like the right thing. Everyone knew what was happening and what needed to be done."

They could not tell their parents about the crash immediately because of a lack of cellphone coverage.

Joseph's parents found out about it from a television report they saw in a Waimauku takeaway shop.

The three boys returned to school yesterday to complete Year 10 tests.

Rosmini principal Tom Gerrard said the boys were heroes who showed maturity beyond their years.

They were coping exceptionally well with the incident.

"They're in better emotional shape than the principal."

The three students praised the bus driver who helped to co-ordinate their first-aid mission.

A Party Bus Company spokesman said she had been offered counselling and stood down on full pay until she was ready to drive again.

One of the two injured men had surgery yesterday. Both were still in a serious condition last night.

- Additional reporting: Andrew Koubaridis