As flames pushed toward the rear of a charter bus carrying dozens of students to a school band event, a nearby truck driver ran into thick smoke, crouched low and felt blindly through the aisle, searching for anyone left behind.
What Joshua Chieka found was a badly injured 16-year-old girl who could not move.
During a multi-vehicle crash Nov. 14, 2023, on an Etna-area highway, a charter bus transporting 52 students and three faculty members was struck after a tractor-trailer became involved in the collision, forcing the bus to come to rest along the shoulder. A fire erupted at the tractor-trailer and a second vehicle and spread to the rear of the bus.
Most of the passengers were able to evacuate. Brynn Goedel was not among them.
Goedel had been standing in the aisle attempting to reach the restroom when the bus was struck. She was thrown about 15 feet, suffering severe injuries that left her immobile. She came to rest faceup in the aisle beneath debris as smoke filled the bus from floor to ceiling.
Chieka, 37, of Piedmont, Ohio, was driving nearby when he saw flames issuing from the bus. He pulled over and learned from chaperones that students were still inside. He ran through the open bus door, climbed the steps and crouched low to move roughly 30 feet toward the rear.
With visibility near zero, Chieka extended his arms and groped through the smoke. His hands eventually brushed Goedel. Maintaining his crouched position, he grasped her and dragged her backward through the aisle toward the front of the bus.
With the help of chaperones, Chieka moved Goedel to the shoulder of the highway, where emergency crews later transported her to a nearby hospital.
Goedel suffered multiple pelvic fractures, rib fractures, a broken clavicle, a lacerated bladder, burns to both sides of her face, a second-degree burn on her left upper arm and a concussion. She spent 43 days in the hospital and underwent four surgeries before recovering.
Six people died in the crash: students Katelyn Owens, 15; Jeffery Worrell, 18; and John Mosley, 18; along with teacher Dave Kennat, 56; and parent chaperones Kristy Gaynor, 39, and Shannon Wigfield, 45.
Chieka inhaled smoke during the rescue and sustained a small burn to his right forearm. He received medical treatment at a nearby hospital and recovered.
His actions, carried out amid intense heat and heavy smoke, are among those recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which honors civilians who risk serious injury or death to save others.
