Fatal crash occurred during windstorm

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The family of a school bus driver who died in a single-vehicle crash in Norfolk County this week has been told first responders found a tree across the road near the scene of the mishap.

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Police released the name of the victim Wednesday. She is Kari-Anne Michelle Wills, 49, of Langton.

“She liked rock ‘n’ roll and having fun,” daughter Mateya Wills said Wednesday. “She was very stubborn and stuck to her opinions. But she loved us fiercely. ”

The crash on Norfolk Road 23, occurred between South Walsingham Concession Roads 3 and 4. Norfolk OPP say the bus, with no passengers, left the road and crashed into several trees. Police were alerted to the mishap around 4 pm

The family said Kari-Anne had to be extricated from the wreckage. The attending coroner has told them she died of blood loss.

Southern Ontario was under a high wind advisory at the time of the crash. Mateya said it is possible her mother took evasive action to avoid a tree that had fallen in front of her.

“We’re thinking it all happened at the same time,” she said.

Kari-Anne, who was born in Simcoe, was a driver for Sharp Bus Lines. Alison Ivan, Sharp’s manager of marketing and strategic communications, said she had been a driver for the company since 2017.

“She was responsible for servicing schools in the Langton and Houghton communities,” Ivan said. “She had just finished her last drop off for the afternoon and the bus was empty.

“Kari was a dedicated and welcoming school bus driver who had a great relationship with her students, schools and fellow drivers. She often went above and beyond to make sure her students felt supported, safe and seen when they were in her care.

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“She was a valued employee. But more so, she was an upstanding community member through her commitment to ensuring her riders were safe, each day. ”

The family says it takes comfort in the fact that students were not involved in Monday’s mishap.

The family said dealing with children on a daily basis and getting them back and forth to school safely was Kari-Anne’s motivation for being a driver. Partner Tom Gecas said Kari-Anne turned down good job offers because they didn’t accommodate her commitment to driving school bus.

“We are deeply saddened by this incident,” Philip Kuckyt, manager of Student Transportation Services Brant Haldimand Norfolk, said in an email Wednesday.

“Our bus drivers have been serving our school communities and families on the front lines throughout this pandemic, and I know this loss will be deeply felt across our network of drivers and across the school districts.”

Kuckyt said that Kari-Anne drove routes serving Langton Public School, Sacred Heart School in Langton, and Valley Heights Secondary School between Langton and Walsingham.

The family said Kari-Anne, who spent most of her life in Brantford, was a talented cook who often put on the spread for big family occasions. They were planning a surprise 50 ^th birthday party for her Dec. 19 but gathered instead Wednesday in Brantford to plan her funeral.

In their release, Norfolk OPP say the crash remains under investigation and that additional details will be released as they become available.

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