‘I’d be dead.’ Muscogee school district employee says boss helped save him from COVID
Forty-eight days in the hospital, including three weeks in sedation as a ventilator enabled him to breathe.
Before he was released from Piedmont Columbus Regional this month, Peter Danois recalled, three doctors told him if he hadn’t been treated for COVID-19 as soon as he was, “I’d be dead.”
Danois, who supervises bus drivers in the Muscogee County School District, credits transportation department director Herbert Hill with starting the chain of events that saved his life.
They shared their story with the Ledger-Enquirer.
Negative, then positive
Danois, 51, has served MCSD for 34 years. He started as an office clerk at now-closed Benning Hills Elementary School, then worked as a special-education teacher’s aide at now-closed Baker High School and Spencer High School. In the transportation department, he became a bus driver in 1991, an office clerk in 2011 and a supervisor in 2014.
As MCSD reopened in January after the winter break, Danois felt unusually tired. He was tested for the coronavirus, but the result was negative.
The following week, the fatigue continued and kept Danois from returning to work. Hill was alarmed when Danois didn’t return his repeated messages, so he asked routing specialist Kimberly Dryden to contact Danois’ daughter, India.
Heeding their concerns about his health, Danois agreed to go to the hospital Jan. 20.
“This job is not more important than your life,” Hill said. “… I wanted to make sure he was around for his family.”
His condition deteriorated so fast, Danois needed Hill’s help to get in the wheelchair that rolled him to the registration desk. He tested positive for COVID-19 — and ended up in the ICU.
“From there,” Hill said, “it was just the waiting game and a lot of prayers, just hoping he would get better.”
Danois couldn’t walk when he was released from the hospital March 9. Breathing treatments, occupational therapy and physical therapy at home have boosted his recovery. He gets around with a walker.
“After I walk for a few minutes, I get winded,” he said. “But it’s getting better.”
Danois hopes to return to work in April. Mentally and emotionally, he wishes that already happened.
Hill cautioned, “I don’t want him to rush it. I want him to be back at 100% as best he can. His health is the priority, but it would be great to see Mr. Danois back doing the things he’s used to doing, making an impact within this department.”
Dependable, go-to guy
Danois is one of five supervisors leading approximately 230 bus drivers. During the pandemic, nearly half of the district’s more than 31,700 students attend classes virtually, Hill said, which reduced the number of students taking a bus each day from approximately 25,000 to 15,000.
Regardless of the circumstances, Hill said, Danois is a “go-to” and “very dependable” member of his 300-person staff.
“He’s well-known throughout the school district, especially on the south Columbus side,” Hill said. “A lot of the principals have a lot of respect for Pete.”
Being bilingual, Danois can communicate with the Spanish-speaking parents and guardians who struggle with English.
“His customer service is impeccable,” Hill said. “… I can’t say enough about him. Pete is a really good guy.”
From his 22 years of service in the U.S. Army, where he achieved the rank of sergeant first class, Hill said, “There are two responsibilities I live by: the accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my people.”
No wonder Hill shrugged off the credit as he said, “Honestly, I don’t feel like a hero. I just feel like I was doing what I’m supposed to do.”
Danois enjoys his job so much, he considers his colleagues to be part of his family, and he sees his role as not only assisting the transportation of students but also their education.
“I feel, if I’m here, I’m giving the next generation a chance,” he said. “I’m helping them come up.”
Such a mission motivates him to do his rehab well enough so he can return to work. The get-well messages from staff and students lift his spirit.
“That keeps you going,” he said.
Danois thanked Hill as he said, “I’ll be forever grateful … It makes you cherish who you’re working for. I’ve seen a different side of him, not just a sort of boss side, but I’ve seen his humanity side. … That, to me, shows that I have a boss who cares, so that’s going to make me want to do more to show my appreciation.”
