(CNN) We don’t often think of our public transportation drivers as heroes. But in a Wisconsin town, most of the transit system is made up of everyday heroes.
From a bus driver who literally ran through traffic just to help a man in a wheelchair, to a driver who pulled over to help an elderly man who fell in the snow, the Milwaukee County Transit System bus drivers have become as important as the county’s first responders.
The town’s latest hero is Thaddaus Turner, a 28-year-old bus driver who didn’t think twice about helping one of his passengers cross the street after finding out he was blind.
“The route was barricaded, it was rough for me as a driver, I can only imagine how rough it was for him,” Turner told CNN.
Helping others comes as a second nature to Thaddaus Turner.
The passenger, Gene Hubbard, has been taking the same route to and from work nearly every day for the last 20 years. But the route is now under construction, making it difficult for Hubbard to get around, transit spokesman Brendan Conway said.
A bystander snapped a photo of Turner helping Hubbard and sent it to the transit agency. The agency then shared it on Facebook and it quickly caught the attention of local new stations.
“I just can’t say enough about all the bus drivers,” Hubbard,69, told CNN affiliate WITI. “If I don’t have a regular locating point to start from, I may as well be in the middle of the ocean.”
Turner says the attention the photo generated has really caught him off guard.
“I was surprised when I saw it in the news,” he said. “I didn’t think I would be here right now over something that is second nature to me, and my colleagues.”
SOURCE : CNN