Who is The Lost Bus based on? Meet the real-life heroes who inspired the film
The Lost Bus is a film starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera, and it is based on a true story
The Lost Bus, available on AppleTV+, stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera as a bus driver and teacher navigating their way through a fire.
The film is inspired by the non-fiction 2021 book Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson, which recounts the events of the 2018 Camp Fire.
Bus driver Kevin McKay volunteers to navigate a bus carrying children and their teacher to safety through the fire, which became the deadliest fire in California history.
Many of the characters are based on real people, including Kevin McKay, who was hailed a hero for risking his life to get the schoolchildren to safety.
Here is all you need to know about the real people who inspired The Lost Bus.
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Kevin McKay left his job at Walgreens and returned to university to pursue a teaching qualification, taking on work as a school bus driver to cover his tuition costs.
He had not been in the job long before the fires broke out, and he received an urgent call from Ponderosa Elementary School to evacuate 22 children whose parents couldn't collect them.
McKay tore up his shirt when smoke started to get into the bus so that a piece of wet cloth could be given to each student, helping them breathe more safely through their noses and mouths.
"We were coughing and my eyes were hurting. I knew we had to do something. And that was, you know, our best option with what we had," McKay later told CBS News.
Mary Ludwig
Mary Ludwig, a teacher in her 50s, was tasked by McKay to comfort and distract the children during the ordeal.
"We were both trying to keep each other from crying. And we just kind of held hands and... we just said a prayer," she shared with CBS News.
"It felt like Armageddon," she added, remembering how she regularly took roll call and ensured the children knew where the exits were and how to use a fire extinguisher.
Ray Martinez
In the film, Yul Vazquez portrays Ray Martinez, the Cal Fire Division chief.
While Ray Martinez is a fictional character, he was likely inspired by John Messina, who was the actual chief during the 2018 fire.
Ruby Hartwig
Ashlie Atkinson takes on the role of Ruby, Kevin's boss and a bus dispatcher for the school district, in the film.
Her character is indeed based on Ruby Hartwig, who was the bus dispatcher for Paradise at the time of the fire.
Shaun McKay
Shaun, Kevin's son, is portrayed by Matthew McConaughey's real-life son, Levi McConaughey.
His character is based on Kevin's actual son, who thankfully managed to escape the fires with Kevin's mother.
Abbie Davis
Abbie Davis, a 29 year old teacher who was also on the bus with Mary, was omitted from The Lost Bus as she chose not to participate.
However, in 2019 she did appear in a short film titled Fire in Paradise, in which she discussed the traumatic events.
During the fire, she and Mary walked up and down the bus aisle, comforting students.
According to CNN, Abbie admitted that she thought she was going to die several times during the journey.
The Lost Bus is on AppleTV+