A video taken by a homeowner in upstate New York is going viral again. The video, which was originally recorded on May 7, appears to show the start of a normal morning routine as a teenager left his house to start walking to the bus that was stopped in front of his home.
Only the teen never made it on the bus. That’s because a pickup truck that had been driving down the road behind the bus failed to stop, slamming into the bus full of children in the process. Fortunately, everyone was relatively unscathed, and WKTV NewsChannel 2 reported that there were only minor injuries from the crash, and state police said that all 27 people involved were taken to the hospital with “minor injuries.”
But the details of the accident aren’t the reason the video is going viral again. Instead, it appears that the footage has resurfaced again because of the way the homeowner reacts in the moments following the crash. Threads user @shadymentol shared the video on Oct. 1, and it quickly received more than 12,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
Now, people can’t stop talking about the sweet way one man held his son in the moments immediately after the accident, and how grateful people are for the way the father checked on his teen before doing anything else involving the crash.
The Accident Happened in Bouckville, New York
View on Threads
Threads users who viewed the video witnessed what happened on that scary Thursday morning, when a pickup truck hit a school bus with such force that it pushed it down the road. A teen, who was later identified as Jeremiah Rutkowski by WKTV NewsChannel 2, was walking toward the bus when the accident happened.
He immediately ran back to his house, jumping onto his porch just seconds before his terrified father burst through the door. The dad took in the scene and then embraced his son, checking to make sure he was physically okay.
“First priority was to make sure my son was safe and good,” Matt Rutkowski later told the outlet. “Opening that door wasn’t sure what would happen, so big sigh of relief. That’s why I instantly gave him a hug.”
Commenters Loved the Father-Son Moment
People couldn’t help but note the touching way the father checked in on his son. “I know that dad was living a nightmare until he got outside to see his son was ok,” one person wrote.
“I shed a few tears as soon as he hugged him,” another added.
“I cry every time I see this video,” another person added. “The way he hugs his son after looking at him and realizing that could have gone way different.”
The Compassion the Father Showed Appears to Be Contagious
While the video only recently resurfaced on social media, the incident was reported on when it originally happened. WKTV NewsChannel 2 even added a bit more about what happened after the hug, when the father-son duo jumped into action and went to help.
One of the people that the teen ended up assisting in the aftermath was a small child who was in the pickup at the time of the crash.
“Once one of the kids was out of the truck and needed comforting and was sent to the porch, like my brain just sort of kicked into that child-caring mode,” the high schooler told the outlet at the time. “I was with him the whole time, and I was making sure he was comfortable and safe, that he didn’t feel super duper overwhelmed with this really scary situation.”
According to the report, the younger Rutkowski is also a camp counselor, which is likely where he honed his childcare skills. Given how many people have praised the dad’s caring response, the elder Rutkowski may have taught his son a thing or two about compassion.