GLENDALE, Wis. — The quick thinking of a Glendale teenager prevented his school bus from crashing.

Acie Holland III, an 8th grader at Glen Hills Middle School, recalled the incident on his bus ride home on Wednesday this week.

He said when the bus driver got close to his stop on bus route 207, the bus accelerated instead of slowing down. Holland noticed the bus driver had passed out.

Glen Hills Middle School released a statement explaining the driver was experiencing a medical emergency, which resulted in her losing consciousness. The driver was not responsive.

“Behind me, there were cars coming on the right side of the road, but on the left, there was a semi coming towards me,” said Holland. “I was scared in my heart but in my mind, I wasn’t really worried about it. I’m just going to get the bus to pull over.”

The school said the bus began to veer into a lane with oncoming traffic.

Holland said that’s when he knew he had to act.

“Her foot was on the break and the gas but her foot was more on the gas and so I moved her foot off of the gas pedal and her foot was still on the break so I grabbed the steering wheel, pressed the break and then when I got to the curb, I pressed the brake hard,” said Holland.

Holland successfully stopped the bus and told someone to call 911. He ensured younger students on the bus were OK.

The school said Holland “also sought out his grandmother, who is a nurse, to support the situation.”

Once the bus driver regained consciousness, she called Riteway dispatch. Riteway sent a safety team and another bus driver to the scene. The alternate driver completed the route that day.

Anna Young is the principal at Glen Hills Middle School. She said she heard about the incident shortly after it happened.

Knowing Holland, Young said she wasn’t surprised by his heroic action.

“He has a history of working on cars with his family,” said Holland. “It’s something I have known about him as a student and he also has a calm demeanor with a sense of leadership so it’s like he was placed on that bus for a reason and that is something that really struck me in that moment thinking about the magnitude of what could have happened.”

Holland said he believes the skills he gained at his family’s mechanic shop really helped him and his classmates avoid a potential tragedy.

He said he plans to develop his abilities as a mechanic to help others in the future.

Holland said it wasn’t until later that evening that he realized the magnitude of what he did.

“As long as I am on the bus, I’m not going to have nothing happen to y’all because I am an 8th grader ... but me personally, I’m going to try to make sure everybody is safe,” said Holland.

The school district also issued the following statement:

“The Glen Hills school community could not be any prouder of Acie. The compassion and leadership that we see him exhibit daily was taken to the next level on his bus ride home yesterday. We are grateful that all of our Glen Hills students are safe and are wishing their driver a healthy recovery.”