Dad surprises son with special needs by becoming school bus driver
A father answered a call to help with a bus driver shortage at the local school district, training in secret to surprise his son, who is on the autism spectrum, on his first route.
In San Diego, California, the Poway Unified School District was experiencing a shortage of bus drivers. They shared their need for drivers within the community, and Rick Daynes answered the call for help.
Daynes' children attend school in the district, including Eli, his autistic 10-year-old son. At the beginning of the school year, there were many days when the bus was late due to the bus driver shortage. Sometimes it fell behind by more than an hour, he told ABC News affiliate KGTV.
When Daynes spoke with another bus driver in the district about the hours of the job, he realized 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. would work perfectly with his schedule. The father of five and author of "Keep It Together Man" already has a full-time job, but he took on the second job of driving a school bus for his family and community.
"It was never on my list of things to do, but it just fell in place," Daynes told "World News Tonight with David Muir." "I'm not looking back."
Unbeknownst to Eli, his dad trained to drive a school bus. Daynes hoped to take on Eli's bus route, but another driver was already assigned to it. The district considered his request, but couldn't make any promises.
Frank Kenny, a driving instructor for Poway Unified, told KGTV that shortly before Daynes started his job, the driver who had Eli's bus route decided to take another route.
On May 3, Daynes' first day on the job, a big surprise was in store for Eli. He ran up to the bus and found a big surprise: his father behind the wheel.
Eli embraced his dad as he scooped him up in his arms, and was greeted with an enthusiastic, "Hi, Daddy!"
The moment has captured the hearts of Americans across the country, including "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir.
With the school year over and summer practically here, Muir caught up with Daynes and Eli while they vacationed at the beach in San Diego on Monday.
"We finished up school on Friday. Today is our first day -- Monday -- no school, so we're hitting the beach," Daynes said. "We have to wait about a week and a half when he goes back to summer school, where I will be his driver again."
They spent the day building sandcastles and running into the Pacific Ocean.
Daynes shared a message to those inspired by his story.
"If you see something in your community that needs to be done, helping your neighbor, whatever. Maybe even driving the local school bus. Go out there and get it done."
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