Disabled Man Edwin Rivera Left Overnight On Bus By Driver Who Was In A Hurry To Go To Church
2 January 2009, 2:15 PM. By Alex Alvarez
Edwin Rivera, 22, was left overnight in freezing cold temperatures on a New York City bus when his driver failed to notice he was still on board after parking the vehicle in a bus depot. Rivera, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to speak and could not call out to the driver. The bus driver picked Rivera up from his special needs school in Manhattan, although his school did not have a record of the young man having been checked out that day.
The driver, 51-year-old Linda Hockaday, parked the bus in the depot without checking it, leaving Rivera to spend the nearly 19 hours alone — on New Year-s Eve, no less — in below freezing temperatures. Police officers and Rivera’s father found him the next morning, New Year’s Day, after searching the bus depot.
When questioned about the incident, Ms. Hockaday said she was in a hurry because she was late for church.
Rivera is currently under hospital care. Asks his concerned sisters, Cristina and Leslie:
“He was leaning towards the side, strapped in his seatbelt, shivering, he was shivering,” Cristina Rivera said.
“I’m so relieved and I’m so mad at this bus company for leaving him,” sister Leslie Rivera added. “How do you miss it? He’s not a kid. He’s 22 years old. He’s almost 6-foot-2. How do you miss him?”
To make matters even more sketchy (such is the technical term), Rivera was found in the seat directly behind the bus driver’s.
Disabled man left on bus [Newsday]
Special Needs Man Left on School Bus for New Year’s Eve [FOX News]
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Was she black???
@Jose: What does that have to do with it?
That poor guy! How terrible this must have been for him and for his family who was probably worried sick. Sadtown.
As someone with Cerebral Palsy, a business owner of a home care business, and someone who knows firsthand about care, I can say that this is a worst case scenario for neglect! Why did it take so long to find him? Procedures for bus drivers with special needs passengers are always set up ahead of time. It looks to me like all systems failed! I think it is also very suspicious that it took 19 hours to find him in freezing cold weather. My heart goes out to the man, his family, and it is a miracle that he made it that long. I think the bus driver and all parties who did not report this need to be prosecuted, and Edwin Rivera and his family need to be compensated for the physical and emotional damage caused by all involved. What a tragedy.
These types of stories make me go through the friggin roof!
The health care industry is is chock full of idiots who earn a low wage. And when you pay a low wage, you get what you pay for. Idiots! I have many stories like this one involving the health care field and the morons employed in it. I feel horrible for that poor person left behind in a freezing bus. I hope the fools involved get fired up to and including the person responsible for hiring people who clearly just don’t give damn.
The best is that she left him because “she was late for church”… ay mija, baby jesus dont play like that!