A Knox County bus monitor remains in critical condition at the University of Kentucky Medical Center where she was airlifted after falling from a school bus Wednesday afternoon.
Sixty-three-year-old Sueanne Sizemore was serving a monitor on the bus that was en route from Lynn Camp Elementary to Lynn Camp High School on Ky. 830.
William Reeder was driving the bus.
According to state police, a clipboard that had been stored under the dash had fallen and landed in the stair well of the bus.
Sizemore left her seat while the bus was still moving in an attempt to retrieve the clip board.
“Reeder glanced over to check to see that Sizemore did not lose her footing while leaning over,” stated Hollace Wilson, Jr., a shift supervisor with the Kentucky State Police at Post 10 in Harlan. When he moved his eyes back onto the roadway, the bus had left the lane of travel. Reeder observed he was about to strike some mailboxes and swerved to avoid impact. The sudden maneuver caused Sizemore to lose her balance and fall through the closed bus doors.”
Wilson stated that Sizemore struck the pavement and rolled into a ditch where she lay, unconscious.
Wilson stated that in an effort to prevent injuries to a child, the doors are designed to open when 43 pounds of pressure is applied to them, even without the use of the opening lever.
“Once Sizemore fell against the doors, they easily opened allowing her to fall from the bus,” Wilson stated. Once the force is removed, the doors automatically return to their closed position.”
