DARTMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - A special pizza party was held to honor a special bus driver in Dartmouth on Tuesday night.
Several Dartmouth middle schoolers call their bus driver, Mark Jardin, a hero for staying calm during a grisly crash back in October after a deer flew through the bus windshield.
Jardin said he was on his way to Dartmouth Middle and High schools when the deer — that was still alive and kicking — suddenly landed in his lap.
“A car hit it coming in the opposite direction and when the car hit it, it sent the deer in the air and I was going in the opposite direction and it came head first right into my windshield,” Jardin recalled from that fateful day.
He managed to pull the bus over to the side of the road with a broken hand.
He was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery to repair the damage to that hand.
The deer did not survive.
Four students also suffered minor injuries.
Now, everyone is OK and thankful to Jardin for staying calm under pressure.
“It was scary,” student Tyler Ferreira said. “We’re very thankful for Mark and all that he did. He saved our lives. He is a superhero.”
Jardin says he hopes that when his hand is fully healed he will be able to return to his route.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)