Fire, ice & redemption

The Lost Bus stars Matthew McConaughey as Kevin McKay, a school bus driver seeking redemption from a troubled relationship with his father, and now, his son, Shaun, portrayed by McConaughey’s own son Levi. 

The movie was directed by Oscar nominee Paul Greengrass, whose filmography includes the true stories United 93 (2006) and Captain Phillips (2013).

In The Lost Bus, Kevin is torn by all the emotional fissures in his life. He also has some issues with his dispatcher at the school bus depot. 

Then one seemingly fine day, hell virtually breaks loose in his world when a wildfire creeps into town and….engulfs it.

At the same time, as the fire is igniting, his son suffers from a stomach ache and as Kevin was rushing to go home to bring him medicine, he gets an urgent call that 22 schoolchildren are trapped in their school in the opposite direction.

So Kevin, the school bus drive,r finds himself at an emotional crossroads—whether to bring medicine to his teenage son who is home with his infirmed grandmother, or respond to the call to rescue the children. 

It was a white-knuckle moment as Kevin was gripping both the steering wheel of the bus—and the steering wheel of his life.

He decides to make the turn toward the trapped children (not a spoiler because his being in the bus with them through the fire is what the movie is based on.)

After herding 22 children from the Ponderosa elementary school to his bus with their teacher, Kevin had to drive the school bus through a virtual tunnel of fire that seemed to last forever. 

That fire was the 2018 Camp Fire, which became the deadliest fire in California history. 

At least 85 lives were reportedly lost, and more than 50,000 people displaced. 

The blaze began in Northern California’s Butte County and spread rapidly through neighboring areas, fueled by strong winds.

Kevin, the teacher and the children were in hell on earth. He was decisive and quick-thinking.

At one point, smoke filled the bus, so Kevin removed his own outer shirt, which the teacher tore into strips, soaked with water, and handed to the kids to help them breathe.

Kevin the beleaguered father, in those five hours through the fire, was a hands-on father figure and savior all at once to 22 children. His bus was called the “lost bus” because it was unaccounted for at the depot and the emergency meeting place.

Did Kevin’s passengers survive? Did his son survive?

Suffice it to say that whatever the ending, Kevin was cleansed by the fire. 

According to online news reports, Kevin is now a high school teacher in California!

Indeed, it is when we resuscitate others that we breathe life into ourselves.

Ice

The 2022 Netflix survival thriller Infinite Storm, starring Naomi Watt,s was also inspired by a true story.

Watts portrays Pam Bales, a nurse and experienced climber and search-and-rescue volunteer. In the movie, she is also battling a personal storm. She finds peace and catharsis in the white “inferno” she conquers on the slopes. Reader’s Digest journalist Ty Gagne chronicled Bales’ story in 2019 and the movie, directed by Małgorzata Szumowska, and co-directed by Michał Englert is based on the article (with tweaks, of course).

During one of her treks up Mount Washington, Pam Bales duels with a huge blizzard. She decides to turn back and, amidst falls and skids, she encounters a man on the edge, literally. Barely alive, he is strangely not dressed for the mountain’s chill. She bundles him up in warm clothing, gives him a hot drink and shepherds him down the slopes. In that kind of weather, you could say hell just froze over.

Pam found herself fighting against wind, snow, ice and strong gusts of wind—not just for herself but for her “ward.” She calls him “John” and sings to him a medley of Elvis songs. 

At one point, John dropped into the snow and told her that he’d had enough, but Pam didn’t want him to give up on himself.

Was John a surrogate for Pam, who seemed strong outside but was also teetering on the edge of grief and guilt? Was she exhorting herself to get up and survive, even as she was commanding John to do just that? 

Together, Pam and John finally arrived back at the car park at 6 p.m.; bruised, battered, exhausted. They survived. 

Then something baffling happened. After thanking Pam, the man who was half dead on the slopes got into his car and simply drove off. 

But…he did eventually report her bravery and selflessness to the authorities and wrote that she made him feel that he mattered.

Did Pam and John ever reunite? You can still catch the movie on Netflix.

This much I can share. Naomi Watts did meet the real Pam Bales.

Rescued from that seemingly infinite storm on the mountain was not just John the Anonymous. I believe Pam ultimately rescued herself as well.

There are no heroes when there are no victims.