(KERO) — After battling COVID for almost nine months, a Missouri school bus driver is finally home and students made the ride to his home a special one.
Phil Clevenger drives a school bus.
He picks up these kids every morning then drops them off at home after school.
But on this day, they're here to pick him up.
"He's had a long road," said Wade Schroeder, superintendent of Braymer C-4.
On Thursday morning, Phil checked out of Saint Luke's Overland Park after 266 days battling covid.
He'd been there since January 1st.
"There's no words to express how you feel," said Beverly Clevenger, Phil's mother.
His fellow bus drivers took on his routes and hoped for the best.
"There was times that, you know, all we can do is pray," said Tomme Sue Feil, a fellow bus driver.
So with his bus front and center he got a welcome home from the entire town.
"It's a little bit emotional, just overwhelming, more than i realized," said Clevenger.
