Southall (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – 16-year-olds, Leon Lewis and Toby Southall, saved 27 Coleg y Cymoedd students in Maesycwmmer on September 18, 2025, after the driver collapsed, praised by parents Donna and Christina Mitchell.
As the South Wales Argus News reported, 16-year-old 2 boys from Blackwood acted quickly to save more than 20 college students after their bus driver collapsed suddenly. The incident happened on Thursday afternoon, September 18, 2025, as the Coleg y Cymoedd bus travelled through Maesycwmmer. The driver fell ill, leaving the bus out of control and heading into traffic.
Leon Lewis and Toby Southall, both teenagers with no previous driving experience, stepped in to prevent a disaster. Toby held the steering wheel tightly to keep the bus steady while Leon pressed hard on the foot brake. He could not find the handbrake, but he kept the brakes engaged until emergency services arrived.
Toby told the Argus: “I just had a massive adrenaline rush, it was weird, I felt really calm and I felt like I should be stressed.”
Leon added,
“I thought I couldn’t just stay there and do nothing. I believe that anyone would have done it. I could see the bus going off into traffic, and I thought if we don’t do something, we are going to crash or worse.”
During the chaos, another student, Jack, called for help. He phoned both an ambulance and the police. Together, the students worked to control the bus and protect everyone on board. No one was seriously injured. Leon and Toby’s bravery has been widely praised.
Donna Southall, a 37-year-old, spoke about the bravery of her son, Toby Southall and his friend Leon Lewis. She said the 2 boys are very close and called them
“like Tweedledum and Tweedledee when they talk. They don’t come up for air.”
She added that on the day of the incident, they saved 27 lives.
Donna said their actions should not go unrecognised. She praised their calm and quick thinking. She also highlighted the role of another student, Jack, who phoned for an ambulance while the boys took control of the bus. She described their actions as heroic.
Christina Mitchell, 36-year-old, Leon’s mum said:
“I am immensely proud of our boys and knowing they saved a bus full of people and got the help for the driver fills me with pride. At first, I was worried as I couldn’t get hold of Leon and hearing what had happened made my heart sink. It could have been a very different outcome if Leon and Toby didn’t step in; their quick thinking saved lives, and I am so, so, so proud.”
Coleg y Cymoedd said they were alerted in connection with the bus driver who had collapsed on the trip. They have not confirmed any information on the driver’s condition. Officials said they were glad there were no significant injuries to any students.
Similar incident have occurred in London, where young people and others acted quickly to prevent potential disasters on buses. In September 2013, a father and his 2 sons were travelling on a Routemaster bus in Sloane Square when the driver suffered a sudden medical emergency. The father, who was a bus driver himself, acted immediately to protect his sons during the crash.