Washington state school bus driver keeps calm after being hit with flying metal: VIDEO

BOTHELL, Wash. -- A school bus driver is being hailed as a hero after getting hit with a piece of flying metal while driving on the highway.

Miraculously, everyone is doing OK after the terrifying incident.

Washington state bus driver Stewart O'Leary was struck by a piece of flying metal while driving more than 60 mph on the highway.

"I'm glad it was me, not them, any of my passengers," said O'Leary, a Northshore School District bus driver.

That metal tore through the windshield and went right into O'Leary's chest.

It happened last Friday while O'Leary was driving a high school girls basketball team to a game.

"As soon as I heard the screams, then I looked up to check on the driver," said North Creek High School JV Girls Basketball Coach Chris Pinder.

Two coaches rushed to O'Leary's side.

"I grabbed the wheel because he was grabbing his heart, his chest a little bit," said North Creek High School Head Girls Basketball Coach Calvin McHenry.

They called 911 and slowly pulled the bus to the shoulder.

O'Leary snapped a photo from the stretcher as he was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a serious bruise to the chest and cuts from the shards of glass that hit his face.

"I kept the girls safe. That's what the job of a bus driver is - transporting students safely - and I did that," O'Leary said.

The cracked windshield is now on display at the school district's bus office.

O'Leary has been praised for staying cool under pressure, and he is already back at work less than a week later.

"It's just remarkable that he was able to keep the bus going straight after such a sudden event occurring. So, a really, really great guy," Pinder said.