A passenger bus driver named Dan Stoddard was driving his usual route on the streets of Ottawa, Canada, at one in the morning recently when he came across something he didn’t expect: a half-naked young woman sitting in a bus shelter. The situation became even more unusual when he pulled over and the woman did not get on the bus.
Instead of driving off, Stoddard took the time to convince the woman to come onto the bus, where he spoke to her at length and discovered that she was fleeing a domestic abuse situation. Stoddard then asked the other passengers on the bus – two men – to move back and give the victim space and phoned for the police.
As he waited for them to arrive, he comforted the woman. He explained to her the the situation she was in was not her fault and that she could put her current unhappiness behind her and move on to a better life. The woman seemed to respond well to what he was saying and became less agitated.
Eventually, the police arrived and took the woman away for further assistance. Stoddard later received attention from the local media because one of the passengers on the bus took a picture of him talking with the woman and posted it on the Internet, where it went viral. Stoddard seemed surprised at the attention that he got from helping the woman and said that he was only doing what was right; he has not heard back from the woman he helped and does not expect to.
The passenger who took the image said that he wanted to point out something positive being done by a bus driver in Ottawa. He said that people complain about drivers if they’re running late, but that they often do good deeds without receiving acknowledgement.