Heroic Bus Driver Catches Girl After Three-Story Plunge
A bus driver became a hero on Monday when he caught a seven-year-old autistic girl in his arms after she fell three stories from a building in New York City. The remarkable rescue was caught on tape.
MTA bus driver Stephen St. Bernard was walking home from work yesterday when he noticed a commotion outside a Coney Island housing complex. He then saw a young girl dancing unafraid on a window-mounted air conditioner approximately 30 feet up. The girl had apparently climbed outside through one of the air conditioner's collapsible partitions.
Amateur video shows St. Bernard telling the girl to go back inside when she suddenly falls. Thankfully, the quick-thinking bus driver braces himself and catches her before she hits the ground.
"I just prayed that I'd catch her," said St. Bernard. "'Please let me catch her, please let me catch her.'"
Amazingly, the little girl had no major injuries. St. Bernard, who's a father of four, suffered a torn tendon in his shoulder but is expected to quickly recover. Police say no charges will be filed against the girl's mother, who was in the apartment watching another child at the time.
Next time we take a bus, we'll be looking at the driver with new-found respect, that's for sure.