Heartbreaking video shows terrified 5-year-old left alone on school bus

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A mother wants answers and a driver is off the job after a 5-year-old in Tennessee was left alone on a school bus last week.

Investigators say the child fell asleep on the bus on his way from school to an aftercare program and the driver failed to perform the proper safety checks.

Heartbreaking video reveals how terrified the boy was after he woke up alone and trapped on the bus.

The child''s mother, Uneisha Bradford, said she was horrified by what she saw in the footage.

Video shows the driver get up and walk off the bus at end of her shift without noticing the Bradford's son just two rows behind her.

Minutes later, video shows the boy wake up, pace around the bus and sob for help after finding himself alone and unable to unlock the doors.

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He eventually figured out how to open the bus doors on his own and was able to find a stranger to help him in the parking lot. The driver came back to the parking lot and took the child home in her personal car.

But Bradford wonders what could have happened under different circumstances.

"What if those people weren't out there?" Bradford said. "Anybody could have got him if he was still wandering the parking lot."

The bus company said the driver had just undergone safety training 48 hours before.

Cox Media Group