Oregon Bus Driver Hailed A Hero After He Saves Toddler’s Life [Videos]

Update: There are three videos! Watch all three

An Oregon Bus driver from employed with TriMet is being hailed as a hero for his deed that saved the life of a 2-year-old toddler, reports USA Today. Bill Clark, a bus driver working for TriMet was driving a Line 20 bus westbound on northeast Division Street in Gresham about 8:15 a.m. on the morning of May 23. While going past a lane, he saw a toddler walking in the middle of a small street known as Linden Avenue, perilously close to the busy street right in front of him. Bill Clark, immediately pulled over to the side of the street and went to investigate, says the TriMet blog.

“When I got out of the bus, I saw that he was barefoot, with a diaper on and he had on a little T-shirt,” Clark said.

Seeing the bus stop and James coming out of it, the toddler happily ran towards him. James asked the kid details about his home and parents – but the toddler was in no mood to answer those. With no one in sight and having no clue who the parents of the toddler were, Bill took the kid inside the bus and called the police.

After the police intervened, it turned out that the kids name was James and that he was a regular passenger on the bus with his family members. On this particular day, James had managed to sneak out of his home when his dad was asleep and mom was away. James was taken to a local transit station and Clark stayed along with him until child services took custody of James. The toddler was treated to a nice cup of hot chocolate, in the meantime.

Meanwhile, surveillance videos from the day of the event has been released recently making them an instant hit with people. The set of videos was also shown to Bill who still maintains that he is not a hero.

“No, I’m no hero, I’m just an old guy that likes kids,”

Clark said after watching the newly-released Tri-Met surveillance video.

The video is definitely adorable but the first few seconds will make your jaw drop as you see the little toddler dashing towards a busy street. A few seconds here and there, and this story could have ended in tragedy. Clark, who has been driving buses since the past 15 years says he has never come across anything like this until now.

Meanwhile, the toddler’s parents were interviewed by child services but haven’t been charged for carelessness.

[Image via KGW -TV]