Heartwarming act from an 11-year-old boy after seeing an innocent bus driver being racially abused – and what happened next will make you smile
- Bus driver racially attacked
- Brock, 11, checked in on bus driver
An 11-year-old boy has been praised for checking on a bus driver after he was told to ‘go back to where you came from’ by an aggressive passenger.
Bus driver Sanjay Patel said he was driving from Swansea to Newcastle, just north of the NSW Central Coast, when a woman boarded his bus and verbally attacked him.
‘She got to her stop, got off and as she got off she said, “why don’t you go back to where you came from, Africa?”,’ he told 9 News.
Student Brock Keena (left) checked on bus driver Sanjay Patel (right) after he was racially abused by another passenger
Student Brock Keena, 11, saw the exchange from his seat at the front of the bus and decided he’d check to make sure Mr Patel was alright.
‘A couple of stops later, young Brock comes up and says, “You shouldn’t be treated like that, I hope you’re okay”,’ Mr Patel said.
Heartwarming CCTV captured the moment Brock approached the bus driver to offer him words of comfort.
The 11-year-old is seen in the footage jumping out of his seat before walking to the front of the bus and exchanging a few words with Mr Patel.
The pair then shake hands before Brock steps off the vehicle.
‘I just went up and asked him how he was feeling because I felt bad about the way he was being treated. He didn’t deserve anything like that,’ Brock said.
His parents both said they were proud of their son’s ‘beautiful’ gesture.
Mr Patel said it was the first time a passenger had asked if he was OK after he’d been abused, despite racial attacks being a common occurrence.
CCTV footage captured the moment Brock (right) checked Mr Patel (left) was okay and shook his hand
Mr Patel (above) said Brock’s gesture was the first time a passenger has checked on him after he’s been abused
NSW Transport said more than 500 cases of bus driver abuse were reported in the past year.
Acting Chief Operating Officer Mark Hutchings warned the department will be reporting more attacks to police.
Mr Patel said he came to Australia as a refugee when he was around Brock’s age and spent most of his life living in western Sydney.
He hopes Brock’s actions will inspire other commuters to be kinder to transport workers.
