BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Wednesday marks 10 years since Buffalo was thrust into the global spotlight, for the selfless acts of one of our own.
NFTA bus driver Darnell Barton wound up saving the life of someone in distress, along Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue. He says, in the decade since, he has changed as a person.
"I know 100 percent that there was a plan and you could willingly walk in the plan -- or not -- but it's better if you do," Barton said, recalling the moment he saw that woman on the wrong side of the guardrail, over the Scajaquada Expressway.
Barton says, "when traffic stopped, she was right at my door."
It was October 18, 2013 that Barton chose to stop the bus and help, while others walked by, even though he was behind schedule.
"Situation and circumstance stopped me right there, for that moment," Barton said. "I was like what if that was that was my mom or a relative or me? I'd want someone to come get me."
On surveillance video, provided to 7 News by the NFTA, you hear Barton calling out to the woman from his drivers seat, "ma'am are you okay?"
He eventually gets out of the bus, coaxes to woman on the right side of the guardrail and sits with her on the ground.
Barton says that was a life-changing moment.
"What happens subsequent to the event, you can't be the same person you were before. You can't," he said. "It was the intangibles that I received [like] the maturity, the insight, the perspective into mental health and suicide prevention."
Barton, like so many others, faced his own battle with mental health issues. He suffered from depression, but says this moment in his life was like an awakening.
He's encouraging others to find that critical care.
"Therapy is good," Barton said. "Having someone to talk to that we feel comfortable with is important and it is not a stigma or something bad. It doesn't mean you're weak."
A decade later, Barton is still at the NFTA and still working to change lives, though behind-the-scenes.
DRANTCH: If you were sitting in that front seat, behind the wheel, what would you tell that bus driver, ten years later?
BARTON: Wow...my advice would be keep your eyes open and keep your heart open.
It was a life saved, both changed, by the power of empathy.
Barton says he hasn't been in touch with that woman, since the day he saved her life. He's speaking about this to raise awareness about mental health struggles and is encouraging people to find help.
There are resources available for you.
- 988 - National Suicide Prevention Hotline
- (716) 834-3131 - Erie County Crisis Services, 24/7
- (716) 285-3515 - Niagara County Crisis Services, 24/7
