The moment a brother got to know that a school bus had gotten into an accident, he could tell right away that his little sister was gone. Not long after that, his worst fear was confirmed as he found out his 14-year-old sister succumbed to her fatal injuries. Authorities say the bus hit the back of a tractor-trailer and caused the death of the bus driver. The 14-year-old girl was also fatally injured as she was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.
The 14-year-old girl, Brylee Walker, was inside a school bus along with 13 other students, traveling north on I-79 in Pennsylvania. The bus then hit the back of a tractor-trailer and caused the death of the bus driver, Lindsay Thompkins. Brylee was also fatally injured as she was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.
“Sylvia got a text saying the bus got into an accident and the driver was dead. Right then and there I knew that Brylee was gone. Because Brylee sat right behind the bus driver, she never switched her seat. She never wanted to be in the back,” said her brother, Jordan Walker.
Following the accident, two other students were airlifted to a local hospital and are now out of danger. Other students on the bus were given medical attention at the scene of the accident, after which they were allowed to go home with their parents.
Sadly, the two people who will never return home again are Lindsay and Brylee.
“I just hope it was fast,” said Jordan, “that’s the one thing that kept playing in my head is her perspective of it if she was still alive. What is happening, all these other people are getting out what if she’s wondering who’s going to help me, it just hurts.”
Brylee’s grieving parents also spoke after the accident and called their daughter a beautiful soul in their statement.
“We wouldn’t wish this tragedy on any parent ever but also ask ourselves why… one child fatality and it was ours,” said Brylee’s parents, Jason Walker and Sara Fusco Walker. “Brylee’s heart was just too big for this world.”
Another family that is also mourning the loss of a loved one because of the accident is that of the driver, Lindsay.
“When he grew up he wanted to be a bus driver, a truck driver, and he lived his dream,” his sister, Shereka Simmons, said.
Shereka added, “Someone that was so lovable and helped people out, it’s sad to say he passed away with something he loved doing. He enjoyed being a driver since he was little that’s all he did was play with school buses and charter buses.”
About a year ago, Shereka and Lindsay lost their mother, after which the bus driver honored his mother’s memory by starting his own bus company called Simmons Charter Service.
Along with being her only sibling and best friend, Shereka said Lindsay was a devoted father to his 2-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.
Sadly, just a year after Shereka lost her mother, she now has to bid farewell to her brother as well.
“It’s hard. It’s devastating, that’s my brother,” said Shereka. “He doesn’t deserve for this to happen. We just lost our mother a year ago and now I have to bury my brother too.”