I just hope uncle will recover: Passengers, 18 & 40, who helped bus captain who collapsed at the wheel in Hougang, get appreciation awards

When the bus Neo Ying Ying was riding suddenly came to a hard stop, she did not think much of it.

It jolted her a bit, but she went back to listening to her music on her AirPods.

Then, she noticed that the bus captain was slumped over his seat — but the bus was still moving slowly.

"My first instinct was to go and check out the situation," Neo recalled. "I just rushed forward... I think [the bus captain] needed some help."

Another passenger, Ng Lihui, also went forward to help. She found the handbrake and brought the bus to a stop.

Along with a third passenger, they stayed with the bus captain until the ambulance arrived.

A medical emergency

Speaking at an Oct. 16 appreciation ceremony, the two women recounted the events of that day.

The incident took place onboard the bus 854. As it approached a bus stop along Hougang Avenue 3 that afternoon, the bus captain fell ill.

He appeared to have fainted, Neo recalled. Both Neo and Ng were on their way home at the time.

Mothership understands that although he had managed to hit the brakes first, his foot lifted slightly off the pedal when he became unresponsive.

This made the bus start to move again.

Pulling the brakes

A man waiting at the bus stop saw that the bus captain was slumped in the cabin. He banged on the front door to alert the passengers inside.

Ng, 40, recalled feeling calm and scared at the same time.

The bus had hit a curb and was not moving fast, she explained, but still she felt anxious not knowing what would happen.

Thanks to a large sticker, she found the handbrake right beside the bus captain's seat, and climbed in to pull it.

Meanwhile, Neo, 18, had got on the bus after a driving lesson, which she believed was why her instinct to help kicked in fast.

She attended to him and called for an ambulance.

The two women were not the only ones who stepped forward. The bus captain operating a bus behind them, Toh Tiong Huat, also noticed the commuter at the bus stop who was banging on the front door.

Quickly, he went over and showed Ng the button to contact Tower Transit's control centre.

He then returned to his bus, as a long line had formed by that time.

Worried for the bus captain

After the bus came to a stop, "the only worrying factor [was] the uncle", Neo said.

She described how the elderly man had some foam around his mouth.

Another passenger, a young man whom Neo said looked to be around her age, joined them to lift the bus captain out of his seat to lie down on the floor, as advised by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) on the phone.

Over the roughly 20 minutes' wait for the ambulance, the bus captain began regaining consciousness, though he would stare at Neo blankly.

The three of them stayed with the man until the ambulance arrived.

"I just hope that Uncle will recover," Neo said.

As he looked around the same age as her grandfather, his condition made her feel "very sad".

"I think [when the bus captains are] working, they get very tired," she said. "We know how they always wake up very early.... maybe three plus [in the morning]... So I think maybe it caused like a strain on his health."

"After that I went back and hugged my Ah Gong and my Ah Ma... I felt very sad, so I gave them a big hug."

Mothership understands that the bus captain is currently recovering at home.

Presented with awards

Tower Transit Singapore, which operates the bus involved in the incident on Sep. 14, previously commended the passengers for their quick action.

They recently identified Neo and Ng, as well as the captain of the SBS Transit bus who also provided assistance, to express their thanks.

On Oct. 16, Tower Transit and the Public Transport Council organised a ceremony where Minister of State for Transport Baey Yam Keng presented tokens of appreciation to all three.

Asked how she felt to receive praise from the community and at the appreciation ceremony, Ng said she was grateful.

She did not initially think about coming forward as one of the passengers involved, and did so only at the encouragement of her family and friends.

"I don't think we we needed any appreciation," she said. "It could have gone unknown."

At the ceremony, Baey urged the man at the bus stop and the third passenger who also provided assistance to come forward so that the authorities could thank them too.

"The good work of these five individuals really shows us what we can all do as a person looking out for others," he said.