Florida school bus driver credited with saving life of woman struck by hit-and-run driver

EUSTIS, Fla. - A Eustis woman is in intensive care days after a hit-and-run driver struck her, police said. The Eustis Police Department is crediting a school bus driver with saving the woman’s life.

Abigail "Michelle" Stevens is the woman who was hit. She is currently paralyzed from the waist down, and receiving care at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Cathy Stevens is the victim’s grandmother. She said she is heartbroken that someone ran into her granddaughter with their car and essentially left her to die.

"She may or may not live. It’s 50-50," she said.

Witnesses reported seeing a woman lying in the street on the evening of Monday, Oct. 23.

One woman, a Lake County Schools bus driver, Stacy Hatcher, used her quick thinking to help that fateful night. 

"She immediately stopped the bus," Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri said.

Hatcher stopped her bus after driving the high school band back to school. She was just ending her shift.

"She did a great job by positioning her school bus to block the rest of traffic that was traveling westbound," Capri said.

Cpari said the bus driver is a hero.

"To make that split-second decision, take that bus and block that lane, that’s pretty amazing," Capri said.

Stevens was hit at the intersection of West Lakeview Avenue and Morin Street. It’s the intersection where Hatcher found Stevens, helpless and fighting for her life.

Hatcher stayed on the scene until police arrived.

Cathy Stevens said she is indebted to Hatcher. "If I could talk to her and meet her, I would thank her a thousand times."

Once police arrived on the scene, Stevens was airlifted to the hospital. 

She has endured several surgeries for more than 20 different broken bones, her sister, Savannah Stevens, said.

The person responsible for her injuries is still at large, police said. 

Police are asking the public to be on the lookout for a white "passenger vehicle" believed to have been involved in the hit-and-run. According to the Eustis Police Department, the suspect vehicle is an older model white passenger car with a black body molding strip across the front and rear passenger doors, and little-to-no tint on the windows.

Police say there is no new update or new leads. They say the driver was in a white car. 

Cathy Stevens said this about the person who hit and injured her granddaughter: "Please turn yourself in. My baby is fighting for her life." 

If you know anything, call Eustis Police at (352) 357-4121.