7-year-old hospitalized after being run over by school bus in B.C.
Grade 2 was hit just outside his home after school on Oct. 6
A seven-year-old boy remains in hospital after he was run over by a school bus outside his home in Abbotsford, B.C. more than a week ago.
His uncle, Bhupinder Bhullar, said the Grade 2 student rode the bus home with his sister and a cousin on Oct. 6.
A neighbour's surveillance video, which Bhullar confirmed to be authentic, shows the boy's sister jumping out first after the bus pulls up in front of their house.
The 11-year-old girl runs around the front of the bus and up her driveway, to meet her mother waiting on the porch.
The driver then pulls the stop sign away and starts the bus, just as the seven-year-old follows behind his sister.
Surveillance footage shows the bus driving forward, knocking the boy to the ground and rolling over him. Bhullar said it stopped off-camera, metres away. CBC News has chosen not to broadcast the footage to protect the boy's privacy.
'We were in shock'
"Everybody was outraged. We heard from the mom what happened. She was standing right here in front of them," Bhullar said. "We were in shock."
Bhullar said his nephew spent four days in the intensive care unit at B.C. Children's Hospital, where he was treated for broken bones in his pelvis and an injured leg.
The boy has since been moved out of the unit but remains in hospital.
"He's talking, he's awake, playing video games, but he's not moving much right now," Bhullar said. "Everybody [in the family] has seen him and we're feeling more relieved now, but still shocked ... he's got a long way to recover."
The uncle said the boy's sister and the cousin, who was onboard that afternoon, were frightened to take the bus again.
"We were quite scared sending them to school the first day," he said. "Both those kids were kind of terrified to go back on the school bus."
Driver fired
On Saturday, Khalsa School Mission said in a statement that the bus driver has been fired after an internal investigation.
"Khalsa School's first priority is the care and well-being of our students, and to ensure our transportation practices are safe," it said. "We deeply regret that this accident happened."
It added that school officials "reinforced safety protocols" with its bus drivers before pickups began before school on Oct. 10.
Abbotsford police also issued a statement, saying the driver is co-operating with police.
Bhullar said the family thinks it's "the right step" to fire the driver, but hopes training protocol and bus safety features change in the future.
"There should be more on-board cameras, real-time bus tracking for parents, so parents can know when to be on the curb-side to receive the kids," he said.
"We don't want it to happen to another kid. [My nephew] got lucky, but maybe another kid isn't so lucky."