When an Alabama boy was taken from his school bus last month and held hostage, it made national news.

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While Ethan recuperated Tuesday from his ordeal, school officials began planning a party to celebrate the boy's birthday and to honor Poland, the bus driver hailed by school officials as a hero.

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The gunman, named by neighbours as Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, boarded a school bus and allegedly killed the driver before taking the boy.

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Appearing on the "Dr. Phil" show, Kirkland told Phil McGraw she was worried how her little boy was going to react the next time she tried to put him on the bus to school.

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