Old lady's scolding sends Jilin bus driver to ER
Staff Reporter
2015-01-05
(Left) A policeman gives a glass of water to Yang, the bus driver; (right) Yang, right, rests on a passenger seat while a passenger attempts to help him. (Internet photo)
An 80-year-old lady in Jilin chided a bus driver so harshly that the middle-aged man fainted on the spot, reports the Jilin province-based New Culture View.
Based on several eyewitness accounts, on the snowy morning of Dec. 10, Yang Yang, the driver of a Route 40 bus in the northeast provincial capital, was driving slower than usual to reduce the chances of sliding out of control, said the report.
The bus came to a stop to allow passengers to get on the bus, but Yang closed the door before two elders could get in.
"It was snowing and the corners of the bus windshield were a blur, and it made perfect sense if the driver's view was blocked," said one of the passengers present at the time of the incident. "The driver reopened the door immediately after he saw the two aged passengers and has nothing to be blamed for."
According to one witness surnamed Song, one of the elders was male and the other female. The elderly womn yelled at the driver once she got on the bus, saying, "Are you blind? The door hit me when you snapped it shut."
"Is it because we don't have to pay for the ride that you refuse to take us in?" she continued. In the province, senior passengers are entitled to free bus rides.
Yang apologized but the old lady carried on berating him. Yang went silent. Some other passengers tried to mediate but to no avail as the woman cast her rage on anyone who spoke for the driver, said the report.
After 13 minutes, according to the bus's surveillance camera, Yang fainted and slouched into his seat after a brief convulsion, reportedly due to nervousness and mental shock.
A couple of the passengers attempted to rescue him with Chinese instant cardio relief pills and acupoint massage, while others called the police. The woman's long-winded diatribe was fully documented and photographed, said the report.
The driver was finally sent to the hospital, but the elderly passenger was not finished, blasting the regional vice manager of the bus operator as well as the police, both of which rushed to the scene after receiving reports.
Yang recovered soon after treatment and went back to work the same afternoon. The old woman and her friend did not leave a record with the police and therefore cannot be tracked down for responses.
