The crash caused extensive damage, with the front of the car forced into the bottom of the bus\u2019s bumper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were no skid marks, no brakes, nothing. I\u2019m assuming maybe he\u2019d fallen asleep, but I don\u2019t know. He\u2019s crossed the centre line and hit the bus full front-on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putaranui said the driver, believed to be in his early 20s, was trapped behind the wheel when she reached the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt so sorry for him. I was just so thankful he was alive.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said the man was initially unconscious before regaining consciousness and attempting to climb from the wreckage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept telling him to stay still because we were worried he might have internal injuries.\u201d <\/p>\n
Despite their pleas, the man managed to free himself from the jammed vehicle, but collapsed after taking a couple of steps.<\/p>\n
The collision forced the car\u2019s front end beneath the bus\u2019s bumper, leaving both vehicles heavily damaged.<\/p>\n
Carlo called an ambulance before getting a blanket from the bus to keep the driver warm while they waited for emergency services.<\/p>\n
Putaranui praised her husband for staying calm during the ordeal. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept reassuring him, saying, \u2018You\u2019re alright, boy. The ambulance is coming.\u2019 I\u2019m really proud of the way he handled it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the wait for emergency services felt much longer than it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at somebody lying on the ground unconscious, it feels like forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police said the sole occupant of the car was taken to hospital and inquiries into the cause of the crash are ongoing.<\/p>\n
Hato Hone St John said it was notified of the incident at 6.03am and sent one ambulance, and the patient was transported to Rotorua Hospital in a serious condition.<\/p>\n
St John treated the patient at the scene before transporting him to Rotorua Hospital in a serious condition.<\/p>\n
Putaranui said the couple were not worried about the damage to the bus.<\/p>\n
They only cared about the driver\u2019s well-being. <\/p>\n
\u201cVehicles are replaceable, but human life isn\u2019t. He\u2019s somebody\u2019s son. He might be somebody\u2019s father or somebody\u2019s partner. He\u2019s precious to somebody.\u201d <\/p>\n
The family had planned to travel to Christchurch with their grandchildren on the bus during the school holidays. <\/p>\n
Putaranui said the inconvenience was insignificant compared with what could have happened. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus remains on how incredibly grateful we are that this young man survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has since posted a message on social media inviting the young driver to get in touch once he has recovered. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d love to meet him and let him know we\u2019re not worried about the bus. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him and his family, and we sincerely pray for his full and speedy recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The crash caused extensive damage, with the front of the car forced into the bottom of the bus\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,30482,3944,1239,20496,19552,2245,6210,24308,10933,296,111,43,139,69,90,26227,2642,1327,1238,23419,19993,10809,4741],"class_list":["post-501361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-bus","tag-car","tag-condition","tag-crashing","tag-driver","tag-early","tag-ford","tag-headon","tag-injured","tag-into","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-parked","tag-rd","tag-rotorua","tag-serious","tag-seriously","tag-slams","tag-sunday","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}