To the Editor:

I wanted to shine a light on the response to the Bus/Deer accident on October 30.

I am the father of one of the children that rode the bus that morning. I received a call within minutes of the accident. I was kept abreast of the situation as I returned to Dartmouth from work. I received text notifications from the school that gave me just the information I needed. 

My daughter reported that Mr. Mark (Bus Driver) got hurt bad but he made everyone feel safe and made sure all the kids were taken care of before seeking treatment for himself. The Dartmouth Police made the scene safe and kept the kids calm. Tremblay's Bus Company got another bus on the scene within minutes and took the kids to St. Luke’s hospital to get checked out. 

The staff at St. Luke’s triaged the kids, treated the ones with injuries, and made sure everyone was good to go.

In these times of pointing fingers, blame, accusations snarky comments on social media pages, the political climate and litigiousness in our society sometimes you start to believe we are in a downward spiral. This event genuinely made me proud to be a member of this great community. Everyone involved displayed amazing professionalism, but not only that, they displayed humanity, they displayed community. 

I would like to humbly congratulate all of the individuals involved for restoring my faith in humanity. I want to say Thank you for keeping my precious daughter safe and well cared for. I salute all involved and they should take enormous pride in what they were able to accomplish with so many moving parts. Thank You Tremblay's Bus Company and Mr. Mark, Dartmouth PD, Dartmouth Public School, and St. Luke’s. I stand in awe.

Christopher Gates