NASHUA, N.H. — A city bus passenger stepped in to take over the wheel after the bus driver suffered a medical emergency, as the bus was careening out of control and headed for a house.
Lizette Markham said she knew she had to do something after the bus slammed into a van in the parking lot and ended up on a sidewalk on Burke Street.
“It was headed toward the house," Markham said.
Markham was on the bus with about eight other people who were all elderly. She sprung into action when she noticed something was wrong with the bus driver.
“I noticed the gentleman was slumped back – I think he was having a heart attack, so I grabbed the wheel and swerved to the left to make it closer to the street and put my foot on the brake because I did not know how to turn the bus off," Markham said.
Fearing the bus would move if she did, she kept her foot on the brake while witnesses called 911.
"He was having a heart attack and he passed away and my foot was on his foot the whole time and holding the wheel just waiting for the police," Markham said.
The bus hit the owner of the Burke Convenience Store's van, pushing it several feet.
It continued, eventually hitting a fire hydrant as well, but stopped short of the store and nearby homes.
Markham says she's still in disbelief.
"We would have gone straight through the house – straight through the house – because that’s where we were going and we hit a couple cars and I was like, 'I can’t believe this is happening to me – is this the Twilight Zone or something?' So I just had to think quickly," Markham said.
The Nashua Transit System confirmed the driver did die. In a statement, a spokesperson said that they are saddened by his loos, but also grateful that no one else was hurt.