Diabetic Girl Mocked By School Bus Driver When Blood Sugar Levels Fall

An Alaskan teen was mocked and berated by her school bus driver when a drop in her blood sugar caused the girl to need something to eat. The girl was told that the bus “needed to leave,” and that she did not have time to go back inside and get a drink. The driver told the girl she should have taken “care of that before now.” What the bus driver neglected to consider was that the girl’s blood sugar had suddenly dropped without warning.

According to KTUU, the girl was waiting to leave Service High School at around 2:15 p.m. when she noticed on her blood sugar meter that her blood sugar levels had dropped to 35 milligrams per deciliter of blood. The girl knew that she had to get her blood sugar back up, as those levels indicate an onset of hypoglycemia. Therefore, a friend quickly left the bus to retrieve the diabetic teen a drink to level off her blood sugar. However, the bus driver wasn’t having any of it.

The bus began to leave and the diabetic teen told him that her friend was retrieving a drink for her. She explained she was diabetic, but he said it should have been taken care of before the bus was scheduled to leave. Therefore, the girl called her mother so that she could better explain the urgency of the situation. However, the bus driver refused to talk to the girl’s mom, instead the mother was forced to listen as her daughter was berated and mocked.

“He immediately started yelling at her to move, that he needed to leave, that he couldn’t drive and talk and that he was already late. Hannah tells him that she is diabetic and that she is extremely low and a friend ran into the school to get a juice.”

Instead of stopping and waiting for the friend to return, the bus driver proceeded to berate the girl to the point she was in tears. Meanwhile, her mother was listening to the whole ordeal on the phone, unable to help her distressed daughter.

“Hannah is already crying, I can hear the panic in her voice. He then starts yelling, ‘Ooh, we have a medical emergency, call 411, call 411.’ He was screaming it in a mocking fashion.”

What the bus driver may not have realized is that a medical emergency could have occurred if Hannah did not receive something to eat or drink. The American Diabetes Association notes that blood sugar levels below 70 milligrams per decibel of blood is considered a signal of the onset of hypoglycemia. A person can experience a whole host of medical issues including seizures, weakness, shakiness, comas, or even death. Therefore, low blood sugar levels should be taken very seriously.

The incident led to the school nurse removing Hannah from the bus as the bus driver continued to pitch a fit about being late. Hannah’s mother says she is thankful for the nurse and the kids who stood up for Hannah that day.

“I love her nurse. I also want to thank the kids on her bus who stood up to the bus driver and tried to help her.”

The school says this particular bus driver will no longer be transporting Hannah, but some wonder if he should be transporting any children at all following this startling incident.

Hannah’s mother says the cold weather and the fact that she had just left gym class probably played a role in the sudden onset of the low blood sugar. What actions do you think should be taken against the bus driver following the incident with the diabetic teen?