Student seriously injured after school bus hits bicycle

Begin tonight with a 16 year old boy who's recovering in the hospital after authorities say he was hit by a school bus while riding his bike home after school. Now, Houston police say the crash happened on October 16th outside Clear Lake High School in southeast Houston and Fox 26 is Jillian Hartman joins us live after speaking with that boy's mother. Jillian, can you tell us more about what she had to say? Yeah, Kara. It's a scary situation. The mom tells me her heart dropped when she got the call about her son's accident. She says her son was riding his bike home from school when the bus hit him and dragged him about 30 feet. He suffered serious injuries and she told me he's lucky to be alive. 16 year old Jackson Kessler has a long road to recovery. Houston police say a school bus hit him while he was riding his bike on October 16th. It happened around 2:45 PM outside at Clear Lake High School along Bay Area Boulevard near Kruger Way. Police say at the time the bus driver was pulling out of the parking lot. Clear Creek ISD tells us the bus was leaving campus during afternoon dismissal. Jackson's mom Brandy Kessler said he was dragged about 30 feet. He was riding his bike home from school like he does every single day, which is a regular bike. And the bus was turning to go left onto Bay Area Boulevard and I guess she didn't see him and he got pulled up into the wheel well and dragged 30 feet. School and emergency personnel responded. Kessler says her son was taken to UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital to be treated for several injuries. He had his ear ripped off halfway, his right ear ripped off halfway and they had to repair that and sew it back on. in the ER. He had spinal fusion surgery to stabilize his spine because he has multiple fractures in his spine. He has a broken tailbone, a broken right toe. He had some internal injuries and both of his shoulder blades are broken. She says she's grateful he was wearing a helmet and believes it saved his life. If he hadn't had his helmet on, he would have either not been here with us or he would have had a very serious brain injury. When I got to the scene, I happened to see his helmet and I wish I hadn't because it's something I cannot get out of my head. It looks like if somebody took an eggshell and just crushed it in their hand and dropped it on the ground, it was in pieces. It was very, very scary to see that. Now she's urging other parents to make sure their kids wear one every time they ride. I can't stress it enough because it doesn't matter how old they are, where they're going, what they're doing, it doesn't matter. They need to have anybody, everybody needs to have a helmet on when they're riding a bike, e-scooter, e-bike, rollerblading, roller skating, whatever it is. If they're on wheels, they need to have a helmet on just for safety cuz you never know. Just a sad situation. So Jackson remains hospitalized right now. Houston police are investigating the crash. The school district tells me it's been in contact with the student's family and hopes he makes a full recovery. Jackson is a junior at Clear Lake High School and is actually celebrating his 17th birthday in a couple of days. His mom tells me the community has been very supportive in donating to a fundraiser to help him during his recovery. Reporting live, I'm Jillian Hartman, Fox 26 News.