NSW Central Coast bus driver praises student Brock Keena for checking in after racial attack
Heartwarming act by an 11-year-old boy after he witnessed an innocent bus driver being racially abused – and what happened next will make you laugh
- Bus driver racially assaulted
- Brock, 11, checked in with bus driver
An 11-year-old boy has been praised for checking up on a bus driver after being told to ‘go back 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 assaulted him.
“She got to her stop, got off and when she got off she said, ‘Why don’t you go back to where you came from, Africa?'” he said 9 News.
Student Brock Keena (left) controlled bus driver Sanjay Patel (right) after being racially abused by another passenger
Student Brock Keena, 11, watched the exchange from his seat in the front of the bus and decided to check that Mr. Patel was okay.
“A few 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 footage captured the moment when Brock approached the bus driver to comfort him.
The footage shows the 11-year-old 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 gets out of the vehicle.
“I just went up to him and asked him how he felt because I felt bad about the way he was being treated. He didn’t deserve something like that,” Brock said.
His parents both said they were proud of their son’s “nice” gesture.
Mr Patel said it was the first time a passenger had asked if he was okay after being abused, despite racist attacks being a common occurrence.
CCTV footage captured the moment when Brock (right) checked that Mr. Patel (left) was okay and shook his hand
NSW Transport said more than 500 cases of bus driver abuse have been reported in the past year.
Acting Chief Operating Officer Mark Hutchings warned the department will report more assaults to police.
Mr Patel said he came to Australia as a refugee when he was about Brock’s age and lived most of his life in western Sydney.
He hopes Brock’s actions will inspire other commuters to be kinder to transit workers.