Sask. parents 'terrified' after son with autism was missing for 1 hour after bus driver left without him
CBC
A Saskatoon mom and dad are angry that their nine-year-old son with high functioning autism went missing for an hour after they say his bus driver "abandoned" him.
The bus company says there was no formal plan in place for the child, but there is one now.
Brittany De Sa said her son Hunter Bergemann "was having a bad day" on Wednesday and didn't want to board the bus after school.
She said her seven-year-old son, Damien, was trying to convince Hunter to get on the bus but was unsuccessful. She said Damien then notified the bus driver, but that the driver left without Hunter regardless.
"The bus just left and my son was already walking," Brittany said.
"Then I found out later in the evening, that the bus drove right past my son and my son was waving at the bus and he just kept going."
Hunter wandered for an hour, ending up close to two-and-a-half kilometres away from the school, when it was -21 C with the windchill.
Brittany and her husband Andriano De Sa, who is Hunter's step-dad, say this is the second school year that the bus driver has driven Hunter and that they notified him that Hunter has autism.
"He just needs a little bit of understanding and care," Andriano recalled telling the driver.
The bus company said it wasn't aware that Hunter has autism, however.
"Whether that was recorded or not, I don't know," Andriano said. "But they know Hunter. They know our kids because it's the same driver."
Andriano said he's frustrated by the driver's decision to leave Hunter.
"For him to not think about it for a second, I'm floored."
Brittany and Andriano say they assumed the driver would have put in an effort to get Hunter to board the bus or notify his parents.
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