Jan. 12, 2007
Exactly one year ago today, my son Caleb got on a Razorback Transit bus. The University of Arkansas operates a free transit system around Fayetteville, to and from the campus, as a way to reduce traffic close to the campus. The system seems to work.
Some time after he got on the bus, the driver lost consciousness. He slumped forward. The bus was now out of control. A woman on board started screaming.
Caleb jumped up and moved rapidly to the front of the bus. He grabbed the steering wheel and guided the bus to the side of the road. He braked the vehicle, presumably from a standing position, since the driver was still in his seat.
Caleb pulled out his cell phone and called 911. Then he used the on-bus radio to tell the transit system of the situation. Later, he told my wife that this was the hard part: telling 911 what was going on, telling the transit dispatcher what was going on, and trying to calm down the woman.
When word got out of the incident, a local TV station wanted to interview him, but he turned down the offer.
Sometime over the next two weeks, he died in his one-room apartment. We don't know when. His body was discovered on February 4. He died so fast that his body was still on his feet when the police found it. It was slumped over in a sink. From what we can guess, he went over to get a drink and died so fast that he fell forward. There must have been no warning. One second, he was planning to do something at the sink. The next second, he was dead.
Not a bad way to go. No muss, no fuss, no regrets. Not one "if only." There are few thoughts in life more debilitating than "if only."
We knew for years that he was sick. We did not know what the affliction was. We did not know it was terminal. Neither did he.
Because we cannot date his death, we remember instead his last public act. The Transit Department was kind enough to send us a plaque.
For his actions on January 12, 2007 in stopping a Razorback Transit bus after the driver became unconscious. His efforts prevented a possible accident and saved fellow students from injury.
He dismissed any suggestion of heroism when he spoke of the event the next day. He was correct. His act was based on instinct, but an instinct that rested on an outlook: to take responsibility. He had little time to think.
In that setting, he knew what to do and did it. In another situation, he might not have. But the willingness to think, in a split second, "If not me, then who, and if no one, then what?" can be crucial.
It is always a good idea to be aware of our circumstances, even when we are not paying direct attention. We drive this way, or should. Alertness to both danger and opportunity should be a lifetime habit. It is basic to entrepreneurship. It is basic to what we call heroism. It is essential to defensive driving. (I learned defensive driving in 1962-65, when I rode a 16-horsepower 1962 Honda motorcycle on the Los Angeles freeway system.)
If the end can come when you are about to get a drink of water, you might as well not wait for someone else to steer the bus, should the necessity arise.
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