'BAND IS LIFE': Channelview's band comes together after deadly bus crash
CHANNELVIEW, Texas (KTRK) -- As Channelview High School prepares for its homecoming, the band has never been closer.
"They use each other to bounce off their own feelings, their own emotions," said Channelview band director Aaron Allison.
Allison is back at work after missing much of last year while recovering from a horrible crash.
"Multiple broken bones on my left side, broken ribs," Allison said, "and I have titanium from my hip down."
Back in March, 44 students and five chaperones were on their way back from a field trip to Disney World when the bus plunged into a ravine.
The driver was killed. Everybody else on board was injured.
Today, many of them are still recovering.
"We have about 15 to 20 kids that are doing some sort of therapy, group sessions, counseling, that sort of thing," Allison said. "We have about six or seven kids who are still going through physical therapy. We had one kid who just had her second surgery two weeks ago."
And, for these kids, music is also an important part of therapy.
"They have the hashtag 'band is life,' and we probably spend more time together than they do with their actual families," laughed Allison.
