Rescuers Make Everyone Proud

An Orange County Transit District bus driver, two passengers and a passer-by have reminded us that there are still people who are not afraid to get involved when someone is in obvious trouble.

The reminder came last Tuesday in Irvine when bus driver Henry Sokol heard a woman at a bus stop scream for help. She was being attacked by a knife-wielding man who turned out to be her estranged husband. Sokol stopped the bus and went to her aid. So did two of his passengers, Douglas Domingo and Bunnie Bell, who work at UC Irvine. The men chased down the attacker, disarmed him and held him until police arrived.

In the meantime, an unidentified nurse who was driving by saw the injured woman and stopped to give emergency aid until paramedics arrived.

Sokol gave his passengers all the credit. The people who came to the woman’s aid may not see themselves as heroes. But they are. They may have saved her life. And in the process, they gave everyone else in Orange County a reason to feel proud.