WCHS students lend a helping hand

Missing the school bus turned into an opportunity to help a fellow citizen Monday for three Warren County High School brothers. Ricky Jones Jr., Ricardo Jones, and Rictavious Jones displayed the kind of character that Warren County High School strives to instill in students when they helped to rescue a wheelchair bound citizen from a water filled ditch.

All three brothers missed the bus to school Monday. Ricardo called family friend and neighborhood mentor, Jimmie Landers, to take them to school since their parents had already left for work. Landers is retired from the U.S. Marine Corp and serves his community as a mentor to young people.

Landers stated that he noticed a car coming towards them and a man in a wheelchair, Mr. Bosie Bass, rolling at the edge of the street. Bass was forced off the road as the car got closer and tumbled from his chair and into a water filled ditch.

Mr. Landers immediately stopped his vehicle and all three Jones brothers quickly jumped out to help. Ricky Jones stated, "I thought he was dead at first. Then I realized he was alive and could not move. I tried to keep his face out of the water so that he did not drown." Ricky went on to say, "I wasn't worried about getting wet or messing up my shoes or clothes. I was only concerned with saving a life because I know how precious life is."

Mr. Landers also credits the unnamed driver of the other vehicle as well as Mr. Danny Williams in assisting with rescuing Mr. Bass. "The ditch was fairly deep. We probably would not have noticed him down there if we had not seen him go into the ditch. We needed their help to get him back up on the road."

When asked if he considered himself a hero, Landers replied, "Not really. We just did what any person would do." Rictavious answered the same question by saying, "God just put us in the right place at the right time. We may have never seen him if we came by a few minutes earlier or later and things would have been much worse for him (Bass)."

Shontier Barnes, assistant principal at Warren County High School, presented each student with a certificate Wednesday for their actions. Joining them were Mr. Landers and their father, Ricky Jones Sr..