A quick-thinking bus driver in West Palm Beach, Florida, is being hailed as a hero after he narrowly avoided running over a pedestrian who stumbled onto the street.
Thomas Guthy, a bus operator for Palm Tran, slammed on his brakes when a woman walking toward the street tripped on a pothole and fell forward. He barely managed to stop in time.
“All of a sudden, I saw her trip, start to fall and tumble,” Guthy told ABC affiliate WPBF. “I’m thinking ‘She’s going to fall onto the sidewalk,’ but she goes into the street.”
Guthy called 911 and a woman on the bus can be heard saying she needs medical attention. Palm Tran said in a media release that no one was seriously hurt.
The woman who was almost run over can be seen in the footage getting up and walking to the sidewalk where she takes a seat.
On Friday, Oct. 27, Palm Tran released a video of the incident, showing the woman mere inches away from being run over.
The incident took place on May 6, at which time Guthy had been on the job for less than a year.
“My training from Palm Tran took over and ‘boom’ [I] hit the brakes,” Guthy told CBS 12 News.
He said that after the incident, he first calmed his passengers down then went out to comfort the woman, whose name he never got.
The woman, who was unhurt, and her daughter thanked him, Guthy said.
Over five months later, Guthy said he still thinks about it all the time, especially when he’s driving.
“Especially when I see someone walking in front of the bus, even if I’m far away, I’m like, ‘Please, don’t trip. Please don’t trip,’” he told WPBF.
From NTD.tv
