EUSTIS, Fla.—The driver who found the victim of a hit-and-run and used her school bus to shield the victim from oncoming traffic in Eustis Monday night is being hailed a hero.
“Mrs. (Stacey) Hatcher’s actions very likely saved a human life Monday,” Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri said. “The world needs more people like her.”
Hatcher, a 25-year-veteran Lake County Schools bus driver, spoke only with Inside Lake Wednesday and said it was God and fate that put her in the right place at the right time around 9 p.m. Monday night.
“I just give God all the glory,” Hatcher said.
Hatcher had just dropped off members of the Eustis High School Band at EHS, along with a second bus, and both drivers were headed to return the buses to the bus lot off Kurt Street when she found Abigail Stevens, 32, lying in the road. As she sat at the light at East Lakeview Avenue and Bay Street, she made a last-minute decision to stay straight and cross over Bay Street to West Lakeview Avenue—a route she does not normally take, she told Inside Lake.
“I was actually talking to myself,” she said, “and something told me to go straight. I know it was fate.”
In an emotionally-charged interview, Hatcher told Inside Lake she is grateful she is the one who came through the intersection first because the buses sit so high, they allow the drivers to see more than a driver would see in regular vehicle.
“A car may have hit her,” she said.
As she approached the intersection of West Lakeview Avenue and Morin Street, she saw something in the road and thought it may be a Halloween prank. “What is that in the road?” she said to herself.
“I looked again and thought, ‘that can’t be a body,’ she told Inside Lake.
She quickly realized it was not a prank and started panicking a bit and called 9-1-1. She used her bus to shield Stevens from oncoming traffic while she waited for police to arrive. She said Stevens was suffering from serious injuries and an unknown person walked up and said, “That’s Abigail.” The person then left the scene.
“When I said, Abigail, she moved,” Hatcher said, and that was when she knew Stevens was alive.
Hatcher said other vehicles just kept driving by and some even honked their horns. “No way I would have let traffic through,” she said. “Whoever hit her had to run her over or drag her. She was in bad shape; her body was just twisted.”
Eustis Police Department is still investigating the case and they believe a white passenger car may be involved. They are asking residents and business owners to check their cameras and come forward if they have video footage or information.
Hatcher said she does not think she is a hero; she just did what she felt was right, but members of the community were quick to call her a hero and credit her with saving Stevens’ life when the story broke Tuesday.
“I just hope she pulls through,” Hatcher said.
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