Bus driver saves woman from jumping off bridge
Darnell Barton, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority bus operator, was taking 20 students home from school when he spotted the woman perched outside the guardrail over an expressway and coaxed her away from danger. After Barton gave a statement to the police, he continued driving his route.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) reports in its newsletter, TransPorter, that Darnell Barton, one of its bus operators, was able to keep a woman from jumping off a bridge while driving on his route, taking students home from school.
Barton spotted the woman perched outside the railing over the Scajaquada Expressway. He pulled up near her, opened the door to the bus and asked her if she was okay. When she didn’t answer, he left the bus, approached her, took her arm, and was able to coax her to the other side of the guardrail. They were eventually joined by two other good Samaritans and the Buffalo Police.
Before the incident, Barton had picked up 20 McKinley High School students, reports The Buffalo News. C. Douglas Hartmayer, NFTA spokesman, told the paper that when Barton returned to his bus after police and firefighters arrived, the students gave him a round of applause. After Barton gave a statement to the police, he continued driving his route.
Barton told The Buffalo News that he was impressed with the way the students on his bus behaved while he handled the situation. He added that he “will be pleased if what he did helps the image of his fellow bus drivers.”
Before Barton was a bus operator for the NFTA, he drove school buses, according to the paper.
To read the full story from TransPorter, click here.
To read the full story from The Buffalo News, click here.
View surveillance footage and an interview from 4 News with Darnell Barton below:
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