Alex Palmer says he'll never forget his 13th birthday, not because of a gift or a party, but fire. "It made me realize how valuable life is," said Alex, a seventh grader at Monroe Demonstration School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On April 18, Alex and many other kids from his school were riding home on a school bus when they suddenly saw smoke coming from the bus' engine. "It was jaw-dropping," he told reporters.
By the time Alex and some other kids made it out the bus' back door, the bus was already on fire. And some of their schoolmates were still inside. So he and some of the other older kids took action.
"One little kid was slowing everyone down with his big backpack, " eighth grader Destiny Fain said, "so I got it off and threw it to the side and helped to make sure all the little kids weren't fighting or pushing. "
As that was going on, sixth grader Marketez Doyle-Smith reportedly helped another classmate who had trouble in breathing because of the smoke. "We saw our friend lying on the ground," he said, "so we took our shirts off and waved them to get him some air to breathe."
Marketez also reportedly stopped a younger kid trying to get back on the bus to search for something he'd left behind. "We're all a family," he told reporters. "So I went back to help the little kid."
Finally everyone made it off safely, thanks to Alex, Destiny, Marketez and several other kids. By later that day, they were already being called heroes. "I really don't see it as being a hero," Alex said, according to The World. "I see it as the right thing to do—helping others before you help yourself."
