YORK, Pa. (AP) - Demonte Martin wiped the sleepiness from his eyes, stood and began waking up teammates, two of whom were resting on the aisle floor.
“Hey, get up, we’re almost home,” the then-junior said to varsity football teammates as Eastern York High School’s charter bus neared its Route 30 eastbound exit.
It was the 1 o’clock hour, early morning Oct. 28, 2017, the team returning from a game that Friday night in Martinsburg, Blair County, some 130 miles away.
Carl Carbaugh, a senior, had just entered the bathroom at the back of the bus after some good-natured teasing from teammates.
Senior Jahshim Snyder, seated across from junior Drake Brown, had just stood up, too, as Martin and everybody else returned to their seats.
What occurred next has been described in myriad ways, including both as a “blur” and as “happening in slow motion,” depending on perspective.
Undeniably, though, the next moments changed countless lives - and, heartbreakingly, ended another.
A Ford Explorer driven by 23-year-old Jasmine McCarter of York, driving westbound on Route 30 near mile marker 251, swerved to avoid a deer, according to Hellam Township police Chief Doug Pollock.
She lost control and crossed the median. The eastbound Krapf Bus Company charter driver, according to those on board, noticed the rapidly approaching vehicle with just enough time to turn ever so slightly, but not enough to avoid head-on impact.
The collision was violent, metal crushing into metal.
Snyder flew forward, caroming across the tops of several bus seats, according to Martin.
The impact sent Carbaugh barreling out of the bathroom, water and waste splashing about.
Heads of many of the 21 students and four adults on board bounced off the seats in front of them, lips and tongues bloodied by getting chomped between rows of teeth.
The bus driver, a hero to many on board for maneuvering just enough to keep the charter bus on its wheels, suffered critical injuries but survived.
McCarter did not, her young, promising life cut short because of multiple blunt force trauma. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I was not thinking about it being another human being or another car, especially because we’re going this way and we’re on the highway and there’s a median,” recalled Martin, whose initial thoughts were the bus hit an animal or a tree. “It just didn’t process right away. It took a minute, and everybody was like, ’Holy crap.’”
Nearly a year later, the Eastern York community - members of the football program and beyond - continues to adjust to memories of that horrific night.
“Horrible things do happen in reality,” Brown said. “You never really think about it until it actually happens to you, and it’s truly a horrifying thing to witness. And that’s how it is sometimes.”
The greatest blessing for those associated with the Eastern York football team were, miraculously, no significant physical injuries.
Snyder suffered a mild concussion, a couple of assistant coaches seated at the front of the bus were taken to local hospitals, and there were some cuts and bruises among those on board.
“Seeing the accident scene, it certainly was surprising (no one was seriously injured),” said athletic director Don Knaub, among the first on the scene since he lives just three miles from the site.
“I know they gave a ton of credit to the (bus) driver for his reacting to the car coming across. They credit him for saving a lot.”
Repeated calls and emails to Krapf Transportation out of West Chester for an update on the status of the bus driver were not returned, though safety official Shawn McGlinchey said last year the driver had undergone surgery and was expected to recover.
And while the haunting memories of that night will remain for the students, coaches and athletic trainer aboard the bus, as well as the families and coaches following behind in their vehicles, and the other parents and family members receiving 1 a.m. phone calls about the crash, the Eastern York community has done its best to move forward.
Closing the chapter entirely seems a foolish endeavor, and the players, arguably more so than the adults, appear more willing to discuss the events that night and process the feelings that accompany it.
“I really feel more connected with the people who were on that bus with me, and how much closer we were living that moment together,” Brown said alongside Martin and new head coach Josh Campbell, in a sit-down interview with the York Daily Record before the start of the 2018 season.
“You always have that expectation of what could happen,” Brown continued. “Anytime you feel a sudden stop, or you look around and it’s highly trafficked and you see a fast car go by, you just feel more alert. After you went through it, you know what could happen.”
Brown vividly remembers trying to think and act like a police officer in the aftermath of the crash, as criminal justice is a potential pursuit after high school. His instinct was to make sure teammates and coaches were OK.
Martin, meanwhile, excitedly recalls strangely specific details, which isn’t unusual in the aftermath of traumatic events.
He remembers the smell from the bathroom spill, the words spoken by Snyder when he first stood up and shook glass out of his hair after his atop-the-seats tumble, the smoke and dirt.
After emergency personnel arrived and directed students and coaches out of the bus through back windows - the front of the bus was so smashed, the usual exit didn’t exist anymore - Martin realized many of his teammates were staring off in a particular direction.
“And I catch myself doing the exact same thing, just sitting there stuck like this,” he said, mimicking a stunned, wide-eyed look. “And we see the car, and that was probably the scariest thing.
“It gave me chills. You ever see in the cartoons, how the junkyard, they squeeze the cars into a little square? Legit, that’s what her car looked like, and it was rough.”
What they also remember is the support that was readily made available to them, by parents, by school staff, by the entire Eastern York community.
Even though he wasn’t on the trip, Knaub said being on the scene so soon after the crash still remains “pretty emotional.” He was also so impressed by the kids and coaches on board and their ability to process and discuss the events, to avoid swallowing brutal memories.
“Our kids are resilient; kids in general are resilient,” he said. “It’s emotional thinking of what could have been. But quite honestly, our kids handled it really well. Very mature about it, asked great questions, open and honest with how they’re feeling, and I think that really had a lot to do with how they got through it.”
Campbell, previously an assistant coach in 2014 and also a sixth-grade teacher at Eastern York Middle School, was named head coach in January.
He learned of the accident later on the morning it happened.
“In a situation like that, you don’t necessarily know how you’ll react,” Campbell said. “You may have a plan of action, but until you’re in that situation - until something is actually occurring - you don’t necessarily know how it will be handled. And I think the boys were very admirable.”
The team often thinks about McCarter, a York County School of Technology graduate who had earned her master’s degree and was teaching students at Crispus Attucks Association of York, and the bus driver. They’ve sent flowers and prayers, donating money to Crispus Attucks in McCarter’s honor.
“She lives in our hearts every day, and we all miss her so much,” McCarter’s aunt, Jennifer Murray, wrote to the YDR recently on behalf of her family. “In her short time here, she made a tremendous impact and was a remarkable daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, aunt, cousin, dear friend and mentor, and loving caregiver to numerous pets.
“Our heartfelt consolation (is) that no Eastern varsity football player/student was taken from life on the bus that Jasmine’s vehicle made contact with, nor any of the adults, coaches and driver. We pray that the driver and those whom experienced bad injuries and trauma, physically and emotionally, on that frightful night had a complete recovery.”
Though the event had little to do with football, it did serve as a means to bring those involved closer together, as any such experience tends to do.
The 2017 Golden Knights lost six straight games to close their season, barely fielding enough players for a full football team by the end of the 2-8 campaign.
Campbell became the program’s fifth head coach since 2010. And though this year’s team is just 2-7, the roster numbers are significantly higher, and the offense is among the most prolific in the YAIAA. Eastern has been much more competitive in its games.
Though there were hesitations when the boys first returned to a bus for away games, the strength they’ve built surviving this event has carried them through.
“It was scary to get back on a bus,” Martin said, “but you get over your fears, and that’s what we did.”
Added Brown: “You realize how important each teammate is to a team in life events like that, how important each person is, how important each person’s life is.”
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Information from: York Daily Record, http://www.ydr.com
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