AMHERST, N.Y. — Dan Demarco says he had just gotten onto the I-290 Friday morning, when he saw a bus in a ditch off the side of the road.
"It was before any medical or rescue was there so just thought right away to pull over and see what was going on."
Demarco looked inside the bus to find the five kids from the Beyond Learning Center still buckled up. He tells 2 On Your Side the driver was making sure everyone was okay, but the bus aide's legs were trapped under the bus.
"He was doing ok but we thought getting the kids out at that moment was more important because you never know with a rolled vehicle."
And Demarco wasn't alone.
He says "There was such a group of people. I mean they were putting the kids in their cars. It was just an amazing scene. A lot of people." adding "Then we all got together and we kind of picked up on the bus so that we could pull the gentleman out who had his legs underneath the bus and got him so that he was okay."
According to Amherst Police, a pickup truck had been trying to merge into traffic but ended up swerving and making contact with the bus causing it to roll over.
It took five hours for first responders to get the bus back upright.
Officials with Oishei say all five children have been released from the hospital and are at home. Meanwhile, ECMC says the bus aid is still hospitalized with serious injuries.