A Prince George bus driver had a working day in March that was far from ordinary.
Andy Szabo has been working in local transit for less than a year, but stepped into action to save a life without hesitation and it earned him great provincial recognition.
BC Transit has awarded Szabo with a 'Transit Superstar' Award under its core community value.
"To be honest, I was actually surprised. I didn't expect anything. Really overwhelming when a manager takes time out of his busy schedule to put me as a nomination for the superstar award," he told PrinceGeorgeMatters in an interview today (Nov. 4).
"When I was informed about it, I was like 'Oh, I didn't even know what this award was for.' I just went and did my own part for the community and helped the individual. And that person is still alive today."
On one of his evening driving shifts, Szabo said he stopped short of the bus shelter at the Spruceland Exchange as opposed to ahead of it like he normally does, which ultimately proved to be the right place at the right time.
"I could just barely see a female individual. It looked like she was shaking a person," he explained.
"I put the bus into park. I got out to investigate what's going on and she quickly yelled at me 'he's not breathing' and I went to assess the situation. I ran back to the bus and called out on the CV for the lead hand to call 9-1-1.
"I ran back and started CPR to revive the person. Then I got some help. Another coworker came by, with another bus, he came and helped me lower the person down because he was just dead weight and for me to better perform the CPR compressions."
He continued providing CPR, saying it felt like the whole event was just seconds, but it actually being quite longer, he even risked being exposed to COVID-19, selflessly. He would help the man begin breathing again.
"I just put him in a recovery position and that's when the emergency crews of the fire department and ambulance came and instructed me to 'OK, we'll take over here, you're exposing yourself to COVID-19 and I said 'I do realize that here', I relayed the information and what transpired and they took over the situation.
"Just before that, another individual was in the area and injected the person with a Narcan kit and weaned off the drug side effects.
"For me it felt like seconds, but apparently I was there for a while and I got his heart going. I was overwhelmed, I was happy because the person gasped and was taking air into his body."
Szabo says another 10 or so minutes later, the man was up and around walking, speaking with police officers, also saying he had major chest pain. Szabo's supervisor also arrived at the scene to support him.
"I overheard the guy telling the police officer 'my chest hurts' and the officer replied 'well, someone just performed CPR on you' and I was just very thankful he was alive and breathing and I saw him approximately two weeks after when I was driving the bus.
"I work with a great group of drivers, and we do this to serve the community."
While some may have turned a blind eye to the situation without stepping in, Szabo said it's the value of life that made him act quickly.
"There are people out there that would probably turn a blind eye and 'I don't want to get involved' but to me life matters."
