Heartbroken Whitley County community rallies after deadly school bus accident

ROCKHOLDS, Ky. (WTVQ) – A heartbroken community in Whitley County is rallying around the family of a young boy who was hit and killed after getting off his school bus Monday afternoon.

Jonathan Chatham, 10, was a fourth grader at Whitley North Elementary.

According to a gofundme page that has been set up in his memory, he was a cancer survivor. The page says he was in remission from leukemia.

Sadly, Monday’s routine ride home from school became tragic.

The Whitley County sheriff says Chatham got off the bus at his normal stop along KY 779. Witnesses tell the sheriff he walked up the bank on the side of the road but then somehow got under the bus wheels and was hit as it started moving again.

The coroner pronounced him dead at the scene. The sheriff says at least one of his parents saw the whole thing.
According to the school district, there were about 20 other students on the bus when the accident happened. The district says grief counselors are helping students and faculty cope with his death.

The sheriff says the bus driver was so distraught after the accident; she had to be taken to the hospital. Drugs and alcohol are not suspected to be factors in the case according to the sheriff.

According to the school transportation department, all the bus driver’s certificating and training is up-to-date. The district says she hasn’t had any incidents in the two years that she’s been driving for the system.

Following school procedures, the bus driver is on paid suspension during the investigation.

Both KSP and the district are investigating.