Students Hailed As 'True Heroes' For Response To Traffic Accident

STAFFORD COUNTY, VA — Two former Mountain View High School students and one current student at the school assisted an elementary school principal after she was involved in a head-on collision in Stafford County last Friday. The students were traveling behind Becky Wardlow, principal at Winding Creek Elementary School in Stafford County, and her husband when the collision occurred.

The three students — Nikolas Amussen, a member of Mountain View High School's class of 2019, Avery Endler, who graduated this past spring, and Olivia Endler, a rising senior at the school — witnessed the accident on Stefaniga Road in Stafford and then immediately rushed into action.

Olivia called 911 while Avery and Nikolas went to Wardlow's car. “I was mostly in shock, but I knew that I needed to remain calm. I needed to be there, in the moment and present,” Olivia said in a statement released Tuesday by the Stafford County Public Schools.

Olivia and Avery were traveling in one car and Nikolas was traveling in a separate car behind the Wardlow's vehicle.

“I ran over to the driver’s side of Mrs. Wardlow’s car and spoke with her husband, who said he was OK,” Nickolas told SCPS.

Wardlow was the 2020 Washington Post "Principal of the Year" finalist for Stafford County Public Schools. She suffered minor injuries in the collision.

On his way to Wardlow's side of the car, Nikolas said he stopped at the other car and pulled the driver out of the car from the passenger side.

"I checked on him and he said he was OK, so I went to help Mrs. Wardlow on the passenger side of her car," Nickolas said.

Avery held Wardlow's hand and stayed by her side, talking to her and calming her until the ambulance arrived, according to the SCPS. Avery also saw that the Wardlow's car was still on and thought to turn off the engine because of a smoke at the scene of the crash. He told the other driver to make sure his engine was off, too.

“She was having trouble catching her breath and told her to relax, that my sister was on the phone with emergency services,” Avery told SCPS.

Wardlow told SCPS that the young people are "true heroes" in their community, displaying compassion and maturity beyond their years.

“Avery and his friends saw the accident, stopped, and stayed until the end,” she said. “They did it without being asked, which is exactly what we hope will happen as moms.”