Man stops runaway bus, helps ailing driver

ELM GROVE, Wis. — A Good Samaritan is being credited with helping to save the life of a school bus driver in an incident that occurred last week. 

Matt Collins was on his way to a business meeting on Sept. 15 when he saw a school bus drift through an intersection, and it appeared to him as though no one was driving the vehicle.

When Collins ran up to the bus and opened the door, he found the 65-year-old driver slumped over without a pulse and two special-needs children on board, BrookfieldNow reports.

He put on the bus’ parking brake, and Collins and a bystander pulled the driver out and began administering CPR. Police Chief Jim Gage told the news source that an officer was on the scene quickly after receiving a 911 call and used a defibrillator to shock the driver's heart.

Paramedics then took the bus driver to a hospital while police and bystanders stayed with the children on board the bus until another driver arrived to continue transporting them.

A relative of the school bus driver reported to police that he is still recovering in a hospital. Gage said that the quick response from civilians and skilled emergency responders resulted in the incident’s positive outcome, according to BrookfieldNow.