Kenyans online are singing the praise of a Kenya Bus Services (KBS) driver and his conductor after they came to the rescue of a woman who fell ill in their bus.
In a viral Facebook post, a user by the name Iswellah Karuiru narrated how the crew of bus fleet No. 231, plying the Utawala route, went out of their way to rush the woman to the Kenyatta National Hospital on Monday.
She wrote: “KBS Minibus fleet No. 231 Utawala route, salute to Driver and Conductor with Golden hearts.
“We always mention matatus to complain but am here to compliment…Today morning a middle-aged mom and her little son like 6yrs boarded only for mom to get real sick. Conductor could run and ask police to give them right of way…. and getting to the city, the driver made sure he brought us all at kencom then proceeded to take the mom and son to KNH where she was going to seek medical attention. God bless you two great heroes”
The driver of the bus, identified as Stephen Kariuki, has also opened up about the Monday morning incident.
“When we were approaching Bellevue, passengers raised alarm that there was a sick woman on-board. She looked very sick and she was with her young son. It’s like she was going for a doctor’s appointment,” Stephen was quoted.
When the woman’s condition worsened and traffic got worse, Stephen and his conductor took drastic measures to save her life.
“The conductor walked towards the traffic police officers at the Nyayo round-about to request right of way. At first, the traffic police were reluctant but the conductor persisted and they gave in,” added Stephen.
The driver of the bus, KBR 855B, said the woman’s condition took a turn for the worse while they were at Bunyala roundabout but the other passengers kept her awake and took care of her.
“At first I was traumatized to see a very sick person being taken to hospital by a small boy. They were seated in front of me so I saw everything. The woman was losing her consciousness. She couldn’t talk and she couldn’t wake up,” Iswellah Karuiru told SDE.
“We searched her and found a piece of paper that had three phone numbers. We tried to call but no one answered,” she continued.
When they ran out of options, the driver and the conductor decided to drop passengers at the Kencom stage and rush the woman to Kenyatta Hospital.
“We had to go all the way to Kenyatta and make sure that the woman was in the hands of the nurses. Luckily, there was another lady in the bus who saw our struggles and decided to accompany us to the hospital. We left the woman and her son at the hospital and hope that she gets well,” the driver said.
