HART bus driver shows kindness beyond driver's seat

TAMPA, Fla. - Sometimes the smallest gesture can make a world of difference, as a HART bus driver recently found out.

Elaine Caraballo has driven for HART for 13 years; she is also a ray of sunshine for her riders.

”She's a very nice person, every time anybody gets on the bus, ‘Hello, how are you doing, how’s your day,’ you don’t get that often,” bus rider Melissa Colleran said.

On a recent route, that kindness extended well outside of the driver’s seat. 

Caraballo spotted a woman with a cane, struggling to cross busy Fletcher Avenue. She stopped the bus to help the woman across the road.

“She was like, 'There's not that many good people in the world,' I’m like, 'yes there are, they're coming,'” Caraballo said.

Slow and steady they made it across as the other riders watched and observed.

“I thought it was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen anybody do,” said Colleran. “I think she saved that woman honestly,” she said.

“When I got in my seat, I was like, 'I did that, I did that.'" Caraballo recalled. "I was proud of myself, I felt good, I saved her."

Caraballo believes there is a lesson in this story that we can all work on.

“If you see somebody that’s in need of help, you never know, you could save that person’s life,” Caraballo told FOX 13.