April 1, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The husband of Amy King, the Bryan Elementary School teacher involved a recent charter-bus crash, spoke to reporters Tuesday about his wife's ongoing recovery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital.

Chris King said the first few days were nerve-wrecking as he and his children waited and watched to see how Amy would begin healing. Now that she is off the ventilator and talking, her and the family's spirits have lifted, Chris King said.

Amy was seated behind the driver of a charter bus full of students that crashed March 28 along Interstate 59. The fifth-grade math teacher told her husband she tried to straighten the swerving bus after its driver lost control.

The bus sideswiped 200 feet of guardrail before coming to a complete stop on its roof in a highway drainage ditch, Chris King said.

Amy King was thrown from the bus during the accident, and later brought to UAB for trauma care. Other people and children were hurt, but none suffered serious injury.

If Amy King had not intervened, the bus could've easily struck a stand of trees and then landed in a ravine filled with 6- to 8-feet of water, according to comments made by traffic investigators who described the possible scenario to Chris King.

Chris King, a father of two, said the outpouring of support from their Morris community and throughout North Alabama has given him great solace.