Williams Lake driver steps up for customer in medical distress

The heavy snowfall was whipping sideways into the windshield of Brice O’Neill’s full Health Connections bus on the return trip from Kamloops. If that wasn’t stressful enough, some of his customers started calling out to him to pull over, because someone on the bus was having multiple seizures.

Before becoming a commercial driver more than four years ago, Brice was a professional chef and restaurant owner. His 26 years of experience in that industry taught him a lot about communicating with people and managing stressful environments, giving him muscle memory that definitely kicked in on November 18.

“We were about ten minutes outside of 70 Mile House when it happened,” said Brice O’Neill. “I pulled over and put on my hazards, and when I went back there, I could see he was conscious and breathing well, so I made the decision to get back on the road and get to 70 Mile to get him help from medical professionals. I had a customer call 9-1-1 so we could get an ambulance to meet us as soon as possible.”

With the snow blasting the front of the bus, Brice stayed calm and got to the general store in 70 Mile House where they planned to connect with an ambulance. When he went to check on the man, he had gotten up from his seat and began stumbling about the interior. The passenger seemed confused and unsteady on his feet, and at one point tried to get off the bus, which would not have been safe.

“We had three mobility aids, and every seat was taken. I didn’t want him tripping and falling into another customer or hurting himself, so I stayed physically close to him and tried to keep my body between him and the other passengers. I just kept talking to him in a soft tone of voice, encouraging him to sit down. I had to keep everyone on the bus safe.”

At the time, Brice didn’t realize that the hardest part of this experience was still to come.

The ambulance arrived about 15-20 minutes later and took statements from Brice and his passengers before transporting the man to the hospital in 100 Mile House. He then had to gather himself to complete the bad weather journey, and when Brice made it to his stop at 100 Mile House, he saw the wife of the distressed customer waiting for him to get off the bus.

“When I picked him up originally in 100 Mile, the lady had asked me when they’d be back, so I knew someone would be waiting for him when we got there. Telling her about her husband was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. Seeing the expression change on her face when I told her what had happened? I was not prepared for that.”

As hard as that news was to deliver, Brice knew it was much more difficult to hear. But as he did throughout the events of that night, he stayed calm and measured as he told her that he was likely already at the hospital.

But Brice also knew he didn’t have time to dwell on it, because he had a Health Connections trip to complete, getting his remaining vulnerable customers back home safely after a long and trying day for everyone.

For people that don’t drive the bus, it’s easy to forget that drivers can experience extremely emotional and challenging events on their buses, and often set their personal feelings aside for the time being and carry on with their schedule. And that’s just what Brice O’Neill did.

“While Brice has always been someone who’s willing to go above and beyond, he remained calm and assured everyone that it would be ok,” said Tina Pilaszkiewicz, Lakers’ Go Bus Society General Manager. “He took care to support the client until the ambulance arrived, and our whole organization would like to congratulate him for a job well done.”

This story also has a happy ending, as the customer’s wife contacted the Williams Lake team the following day to let them know he was okay, which came as a big relief to Brice O’Neill.