Jockey 'couldn't sleep' after Minehead school coach crash
The 64-year-old, who now works as a trainer, said he had taken eight adults and children to the Rest and Be Thankful Inn in Wheddon Cross, which was set up as a safe hub after the crash.
'Crying and upset'
Mr Jones said he had used his quad bike to get to Cutcombe Hill via fields.He said the crash site was in "the most remote place" and he thought it "would have been wrong not to try and help".He described how he had first picked up two teachers on the side of the road, then saw a group of children and one adult who were trying to get to the safe hub."You could see they were injured and crying and upset. It was too far, these were very young middle school children," he said."They'd just been upside down in a bus, over a cliff, all the windows had broken in the bus, and they'd scrambled out and been helped out by emergency services."I presume some of them were told to make their way up but they just couldn't walk up."
When Mr Jones got further up the road, ambulances picked up the two teachers he was transporting and he returned to help another teacher and child.He said: "They were in shock. They didn't really say a lot."One teacher said: 'I'm never going back on a bus or coach ever again'."Fundraisers set up for affected families have raised tens of thousands of pounds.Tributes have been left at Minehead Middle School, which remained closed on Friday.
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