An Erie, Pennsylvania school bus driver says she knew there could be consequences when she stopped her route to rescue a group of baby opossums stranded beside a busy road. What she didn’t expect was losing her job over it.
According to Erie News Now, Rose Sheakley was driving her usual high school route when she spotted what appeared to be a dead opossum lying near the center line of Cherry Street. As she passed, she noticed movement and realized at least one baby was still alive and heading toward traffic.
Faced with a decision that many animal lovers can probably relate to, Sheakley says she turned the bus around to investigate. What she found was worse than she expected. The mother opossum had been killed, but eight babies had survived.
A Split-Second Decision Turned Into a Much Bigger Story
Sheakley says she had five high school students on board at the time. According to her account, she checked in with the students, activated the bus’s warning lights, grabbed a blanket, and moved the babies to safety before continuing her route.
After completing her run, she immediately reported the incident to her employer.
“If I didn’t tell on myself, nobody would have known,” Sheakley told Erie News Now.
The incident was reviewed by her employer, First Student. Days later, Sheakley says she received a termination letter. According to the company, student safety is its top priority, and the decision followed a review of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Internet Has Largely Sided With the Driver
In a Facebook post that quickly attracted hundreds of likes, Sheakley explained that she knew she wasn’t supposed to leave the bus but felt she couldn’t simply drive away and leave the animals behind.
The story struck a chord with animal lovers across the country. Commenters praised her compassion, while others argued that a suspension would have been a more appropriate punishment than termination.
Some parents even suggested they would prefer a bus driver who demonstrated that kind of empathy, while others pointed out that school transportation companies have strict policies for a reason.
It’s one of those stories where both sides can make a reasonable argument.
Seven Baby Opossums Survived
After work, Sheakley returned to collect the surviving animals and temporarily cared for them herself. One of the babies later died and was buried in her backyard. The remaining seven survived and were eventually transferred to a wildlife rehabilitator.
Despite losing her job, Sheakley doesn’t appear to regret the decision.
In her Facebook post, she summed up the situation with a simple statement that has resonated with thousands of people online:
“And despite everything, I still couldn’t have left them there.”
Now the debate is spreading far beyond Erie.
Did the bus company make the right call by enforcing its safety policies, or should a driver with a clean record have received a second chance after rescuing eight baby opossums?