Locked in bus, 5-year-old beeps horn for help in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- A day care driver is out of a job after a boy was accidentally left on an empty locked bus earlier this month.
Jeremiah Nickleson said he just wanted to be noticed, and rescued. He was locked in the bus, and started blowing the horn until he got someone's attention.
It happened September 9 at the Childcare Network on Raeford Road in Fayetteville.
Nickleson fell asleep in the back of the vehicle. The driver said she didn't see him, and thought the bus was empty, and she locked it up.
The 5-year-old said he woke up an hour later.
"I cried and beeped the horn. I tried the door, but it was locked," he said.
Nickleson's mother said her son was terrified, and still is.
"He cried and cried. He called out for mommy and daddy, somebody help me," Kaneka Nickleson said. "You know he was really scared. He got himself together and blew the horn."
Nickleson said he knew to blow the horn because that is what his mother and father do. He has a battery-powered car that he beeps the horn on all the time.
A teacher heard the horn, looked out the window, and saw the 5-year-old waving from the driver's seat.
A supervisor for the child care center admitted mistakes were made.
"We have numerous policies and procedures in place," Child Care Center Supervisor Cathy Robinson said. "Unfortunately, those policies were not followed in this case. We have added a new check every seat policy. We will have a sticker that will go on the window once all the seats have been checked."
The bus driver spoke to ABC11 on Wednesday, but did not want to be identified. She said she did make a mistake.
The woman said she did not see the 5-year-old get on her bus, and didn't know he was in the back. She admitted she only checked the first three rows, but she said she is not the only one to blame.
She emailed ABC11 a section of the employee manual that states it's the driver's responsibility to do a complete walk through every time the vehicle is used.
The policy also says a director or assistant director must also do a walk-through of the vehicle. The driver said that did not happen.
Nickleson's mother said she just wants to make sure another child doesn't have to go through what her son did.
"He is always questioning saying, 'Please Mommy, I don't want to ride the bus again,' or 'Mommy, make sure they don't leave me alone'," Kaneka Nickleson said.
Nickleson added that she has since enrolled her son and a younger sister in another day care center.
