Shelley Liberto’s son Bobby Liberto was one of the students from Kingman High School that was in the bus while a SUV crashed into it on Tuesday.
The school bus was from the Kingman Unified School District and several people had to be taken to nearby medical centers, according to police.
“He said I’m so lucky mom, I’m so lucky to be here today,” Shelley Liberto said.
Bobby is 16 years old and a junior in high school. He was heading to a Future Business Leaders of America conference at the Tucson Convention Center.
“He said he doesn’t even know how his hand ended out the window,” Liberto said.
Shelley said Bobby has life-sustaining injuries and just had a traumatic partial hand amputation. She said he also had reconstructive surgery on his left hand and elbow. He also has leg and back pain.
“This is going to be a long extended life-time situation that he’s going to have to bear for the rest of his life,” Liberto said.
Just last week Shelley also had surgery and is having to skip treatments to be in Tucson.
“My pain is nothing compared to what he’s going through, so I don’t worry about my pain or suffering,” she said.
She said Bobby has been strong throughout everything and has been asking about how his friends are doing.
“Just a very strong kid and he’s resilient, and he’s going to bounce back and he’s going to be bigger than anybody’s ever seen,” she described him.
Spencer Hendry came up with the idea to collect donations for the people injured and their families. She said they’re taking donations in the form of gift cards, blankets, water, and prepackaged snacks.
She was also in FBLA when she was in high school, so she feels like she had a personal connection to the situation.
“You’re so excited for state competition and then having that taken away from you especially with a major accident and all of the kind of emotional side that comes with that can be hard to deal with,” Hendry said.
A box will be located outside nine locations. One of them is at Tucson ER and Hospital on Broadway and Swan.
She also told us people can drop off at Northwest Fire District stations 334 on Wade Road, Station 336 on Marana Main Street, and Station 341 on Tangerine Road.
Golder Ranch is also participating, and Hendry said you can donate at Station 379 on Shannon Road and Station 380 on Magee Road.
If you’re in Tucson, you can also donate to the Tucson Fire Department. They are collecting at Station 1 on South Fire Central Place, Station 3 on Norris Avenue, and Station 8 on West Prince.
“My husband being a fire captain and then family that are first responders, it’s just so important to give back to our community and the people that visit it," Hendry said.
Hendry is collecting donations until this Sunday, April 6, and they will be delivered on the 14th.
Liberto said Bobby has been selfless, thinking about his friends and those affected before himself.
“He’s just glad you all survived and he’s happy and that’s the most important thing,” she said.
