Boy dragged hundreds of feet by school bus after backpack gets caught in door

BUXTON, Maine (WKRC/WMTW/CNN Newsource) - A school bus driver is on leave after a terrifying incident on Thursday.

A six-year-old boy getting off the bus was dragged hundreds of feet when his backpack got stuck in the door.

The child's mother, Athena Lavigne, who was waiting for him at the bus stop, saw the accident unfold and chased the bus on foot.

"I didn't think he was going to stop," she said. "I thought my son was going to get dragged under the bus and I thought he was going to die. Thank God he had shoes on."

A day later, Athena and her husband, Matt, say they are still shaken up, but that their son is feeling better.

"He's having a hard time walking, but that's just from his legs being all scraped up," said Matt.

The parents say their son is feeling better today.

Dottie Muchmore, the transportation director for the school district, says school bus drivers go through a minimum of 40 hours of training.

"We have to be 100 percent focused at all times," said Muchmore. "We focus on the loading and unloading of our students. It's very important. It's the most critical time of a bus driver's job."

Muchmore says standard safety procedure requires drivers to wait for kids to finish crossing the street before closing the doors and driving away.

The district and police department are now investigating to figure out how this could have happened.

"There are many things that could have gone wrong. You're just hoping that child is okay and is not severely injured," said Buxton Police Chief Troy Cline.

Counselors are being made available at the school.

Despite the scrapes and bruises, the boy's parents say they are thankful things didn't turn out worse.

"He's doing well. He's such a trooper," said Athena. "He has taken better care of me, I feel, during this than I have him, and I'm just really grateful he's okay."

School district administrators rode on the buses with students on Friday.