NC doctor among those who helped after Indiana school bus crash

INDIANA — Mark Kadowaki was in the right place at the right time.

The North Carolina surgeon was on a near 10-hour road trip to Wisconsin when he drove up to the scene of a serious bus crash in Indiana.

When Kadowaki arrived, the bus was flipped upside down, with many people still trapped inside.

"Where I first got out of the car, it's hard to imagine anybody could've gotten out of that bus okay," he said. "You could tell from across the way, it was flattened."

The surgeon said he immediately sought out passengers with serious injuries.

The bus was filled with members of an Indiana high school boys basketball team on their way to a state semi-final game.

"It just was God's will I happened to be driving by at that time," said Kadowaki. "People were offering blankets or band aids they had in their car first-aid kits. Many people reached out."

All 27 people aboard the bus survived.

Indiana police said the car involved in the crash sideswiped the bus after the driver spilled a drink in her lap and lost control of the car.

Kadowaki was headed to a friend's funeral, and said it was rare he would be on that stretch of highway at the time of the crash.

The surgeon, also a man of faith, said his path was no mistake.

"So many people could have been very severely injured and were not," he said. "I almost haven't had time to take a breath. I'm Ok with that. I did what I had to do. I'll sort it out later."

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