Mom of UW marching band student relieved no serious injuries in rollover

SEATTLE – Parents of UW marching band students are relieved no serious injuries occurred when one of the buses rolled over on I-90 near the small town of George, Wa.



Mom Michelle Johnston was relieved to hear her son’s voice on the phone when he called her telling her one of the UW marching band buses rolled over on I-90 in George.

“Just heart panic, I’m telling myself if he’s talking to me, he’s okay. It felt to them the bus did a 360, then a 90 then came to a stop,” said Johnston.

Her son Alex is a snare drum player in the band and a freshman at UW. He was in the bus behind the one which rolled over and is okay.

Johnston says this morning he was so excited about the trip and performing at the Apple Cup.

“I love that he’s a band kid and he has these adventures, but you always worry when they go on a road trip and I knew there was snow and ice on the road tonight,” said Johnston.

Through texts they’ve been exchanging, Alex says everyone is relatively okay, some students had minor injuries but are all safe.

“I know that they’re helping each other, they’ve picked some glass out of the folks who were on the bus that rolled over, they’re sharing clothing because their stuff is scattered on the road, but they’re ok,” said Johnston.

Her son told her he and the rest of the uninjured students are now heading to a hotel in Moses Lake for the night and will make the rest of the drive to Pullman in the morning.

She says after the accident students were taken to George Elementary school and while there, local residents brought them left-over Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy.