Surveillance footage has captured an incredibly brave 6-year-old girl sprinting aboard a bus to cry for help after her mother started having a seizure. The incident took place in December and showed the bus driver displaying incredible kindness and love toward a scared and lonely little girl.
“My mommy! Mommy!” the Milwaukee County girl screamed as she hopped up into the bus.
Bus driver Michelle Mixon had stopped at a red light when she noticed the little girl clearly in distress and screaming for help. The little girl’s mother had fallen on the snowy ground following a sudden seizure. As an ambulance hurtled toward the scene, other passengers kept the woman comfortable — one man took off his coat and tried to use it to keep her warm.
“I’m scared,” the girl sobbed.
“OK, I know sweetie, I know,” Mixon replied as she held her and lifted her onto her lap, later assuring the girl that “they’re going to take care of her.” It was a beautiful moment of compassion and kindness in a terrifying situation for the young girl.
Michelle had just dropped the little girl and her mother off at the stop. Then, tragedy struck. “She fell, the girl came back and told us she had a seizure, Michelle recalled, according to Global News.
“I was loading someone in and I saw her fall and immediately popped my brake, and at that moment, I couldn’t think how to get in touch with the dispatcher so I pulled my cellphone out and called 911 and then started comforting the little girl.”
Mixon was asked how she kept so calm during the incident. She said she just dealt with the situation that was presented to her.
“Basically, you just never know what you’re going to do in a situation until you actually are in it,” she said. “She [the girl] was hysterical, my heart goes out to her because I don’t know how many times she has seen her mom go through this but I know it was devastating for me to see for the first time and I just pray she’s well.”
Spokesperson Brendan Conway told Global News that this isn’t the first time an MCTS driver has helped out someone in desperate need. Some other examples have included a lost 10-year-old boy who was eight kilometers from home, a pregnant woman going into labour and a passenger having a heart attack.
“We have the ability because of some of our video on the bus to go and tell these stories and we’ve made it a priority to do it,” Conway said.
As for Mixon, he said that “maternal but also human instincts kicked in.”
Mixon has been driving for the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) for 21 years but says this was by far the most emotional encounter she has ever had while on the job.
“Michelle has been driving MCTS for 21 years, she says this is easily the most memorable and emotional thing she has been through, the bus company said in a release.
“She says she is happy she could help.”