Kameron Johnson was identified as the child who lost his life in an Arkansas bus crash Monday morning that left over 45 others injured. Johnson, known as “Kam Kam” to his friends and family, was identified by the Saline County Coroner on Monday afternoon.
Johnson played for the Memphis Wolfpack football team with the Orange Mound Youth Association, according to local news channel Fox16. He was tragically the only person who lost their life in the crash, though several other children are still hospitalized.
Johnson was a third grade student at Aspire Coleman Elementary School. Here’s what you need to know:
Johnson Was Described as ‘Full of Life, Energy, and Potential’ by the Aspire Superintendent
In a public statement on Monday, Supt. Dr. Nickalous Manning said of Johnson, “[He was] just full of life. Full of energy. Full of potential. It’s hard to put into words what the future had for him. He’s definitely a young person who is near and dear to our hearts.”
Manning continued, “And when we talk to teammates here you saw it on their face. You saw it on their face about what that young person meant to them, the impact that he had on the school community, the teachers and students and adults here. It’s gonna be a loss that’s gonna be hard to heal from.”
Manning also described the moment he had to tell students and staff about what had happened. He said, “You just saw heartache. You saw our hearts broken. You saw tears. You saw hugs. You saw. I’m gonna tell you what else you saw when we’re talking about adults. We heard adults rallying around each other.”
SchoolSeed Has Established a Fund People Can Donate to For Johnson’s Funeral Expenses
SchoolSeed, a crowdfunding platform that “assists school faculty and students [to] achieve their philanthropic goals,” has set up a fundraiser on behalf of Johnson’s family to cover funeral expenses.
So far, 14 donors have raised $670 towards the goal of $5,000. It’s unclear when Johnson’s funeral will be, and if the service will be public, as of yet. Johnson’s specific cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
Three of Johnson’s Classmates Were Also Injured; Four Patients in Total Were Still in the Hospital as of Monday Afternoon
Latest info from Arkansas State Police on bus crash. Bus had youth/adults from Memphis on it en route from football game in Dallas. 1 child dead 45 others injured @WMCActionNews5
Chief Operating Officer Chanda Chacón of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock confirmed on Monday afternoon that 26 children between the ages of eight and 13 years of age had been treated in the emergency room from the crash. Of those 26, four of the children were admitted to the hospital for further care of their injuries. Those four children have since been confirmed to be in stable condition with expectations of full recoveries, though two emergency surgeries did have to be performed earlier in the day.
Chacon further confirmed that the majority of the injuries were fractures and lacerations. Surgeon-in-chief Dr. Todd Maxson said in a subsequent statement that there were no particularly unusual injuries; rather, it was the sheer volume of patients that was unique.
He said, “The injuries have ranged really from injuries to the skull and brain to lots of lacerations, lots of broken bones, lots of contusions. We saw the whole gambit of that today.”
“Nothing they saw today was surprising,” Maxson added. “The magnitude was higher.”