2 Hero Passengers Leap into Action After Bus Driver Has Stroke Behind Wheel
If you’ve ever taken a long bus ride, you know that it can be incredibly cumbersome but interesting.
The sore muscles leave you aching to just take a few steps here and there. The person sitting next to you tries to have a conversation about where you’re from, why you’re on the bus and what you do for a living. There are all sorts of mumbled noises from families and people across the aisle, and then other times it’s quiet as a mouse while people drift off to sleep.
There’s a sense of blind trust that goes into stepping onto a bus. Without knowing anyone there, you trust that no one will do anything dangerous and that the driver will get you to where you want to go in one piece.
So when an unexpected turn of events occurred on a bus in east China, passengers were alert and noticed immediately.
A Chinese bus driver named Mr. Li collapsed from a stroke after driving 17 hours non-stop from Pinyang in east China on the morning of June 15.
Unconscious and limply hanging by his seatbelt over the next seat, no one had control of the bus. With over 30 passengers on the bus, almost everyone was asleep.
When a 45-year-old businessman named Xie Shangpan (Mr. Xie) was knocked awake by the bus hitting the guardrail, he and another passenger raced to the front of the bus.
“The bus was going zigzag like a snake. I didn’t have time to wear my shoes and ran up to see what happened,” Mr. Xie said.
Scrambling over one another, Mr. Xie stumbled over the driver to gain control of the wheel, while the other passenger tried to take control of the brakes since the unconscious driver still had his foot blocking the pedals. The bus rapidly decreased from about 50 miles per hour when the passengers approached the front of the bus to zero miles per hour as they pulled to the side of the road.
When they eventually got the bus safely parked on the side of the road, a few other passengers rushed to the front and helped the other men carefully lift the unconscious Mr. Li off the bus. Several passengers had to perform CPR on Mr. Li while others called for emergency help.
“About three, four passengers performed CPR on the driver until he gained consciousness and they sent him on a stretcher,” Mr. Xie said.
When help arrived, they transported Mr. Li to a nearby hospital. No passengers were reported injured.
Shandong Linyi Transport Company, the company of the bus that the passengers were on, offered Mr. Xie money for his heroic acts, but he politely declined.
Mr. Xie is considered a hero for saving over 30 passengers aboard the bus. Mr. Li is reportedly still receiving treatment in the hospital, but he is doing well and has no life-threatening risks.
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