“I remember waking up that morning excited,” recalled Harold Dennis, who was riding onboard a church school bus the evening of May 18, 1988, when a drunk driver slammed head on into the church school bus in which he and 66 other passengers were riding as they were returning home from a field trip to Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati.

Just weeks earlier, Dennis’ mother told him that she was unable to afford to buy tickets but had surprised him and his sister just before the trip. That decision would change the then 14-year-old’s life, amazingly for the better as he told NASDPTS members.

Dennis, after all survived. On their way home to Radcliff, Ky., at approximately 10:55 p.m., the children’s bus was hit head on by Larry Mahoney, a local man who had been drinking beer all day. Dennis was asleep next to best friend Anthony Marks, the impact throwing Dennis into the seat in front of them. Still groggy, instinct sent him walking toward the front of the bus not noticing a fire had erupted, which immediately burned the entire left side of his face and body. Their would be no exit through the front loading doors, and chaos ensued.

Dennis and others tried to escape through the bus windows but they were too small, though one girl squeezed through and made it out safely. This was before the upgrade to FMVSS 217 for push out windows and additional emergency exits based upon passenger capacity. The only way out for the other children was through the rear emergency exit. In addition to the inebriated Mahoney, who blew three times the legal blood alcohol limit at .24, the NTSB later would say the lack of adequate exits contributed to the mass casualties as did a punctured fuel tank, which was later strengthened by NHTSA with FMVSS 301.

“What I saw and remember getting to that exit I’ll leave to your imagination, but somehow I got there,” Dennis told the NASDPTS members. “I get to the rear exit and it’s piled with bodies from the floor to the ceiling; it was wedged. I actually got pulled off the bus by a passerby. I hit the ground and started running.”

Instinct again took over, his 20 percent of his body burned and eyes swollen shut, he was one of the last children out of the bus. Twenty-seven children, including best friend Marks, perished that evening. Mahoney was convicted but ended up only serving approximately nine months per each of the children who died. Mothers Against Drunk Driving originated after the crash, as the founder’s daughter was one of those who died.

Months of excruciating pain in the burn unit turned into years of emotional and psychological recovery, yet neither this nor his scars stopped Dennis from walking onto the University of Kentucky football team, getting his degree, getting married, having three children or becoming a successful businessman. His inspirational story has been turned into a full-length feature film, aptly named “The Phoenix” taken from an article on his experience in Sports Illustrated. The move is currently in post-production.

“The first time I saw my face ... that was like the first day of the rest of my life right there,” said Dennis. “That was a weak moment for myself, but it was also the realization that I had no choice. You deal with it or fold and give up, and I wasn’t ready to give up. We all have choices in life, instances where we’re faced with adversity. Yes, I was fortunate enough. Yes, I worked hard at it, but anyone else would have done the same.”