BURRILLVILLE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER HONORED FOR HELPING A SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHLETE IN DISTRESS
Last summer, School Bus Driver Trainer Christina Pilkington, of Durham School Services in Burrillville, was on her way home when she saw a man collapsed along Rt. 116 in Lincoln. He was sitting slumped over in the right lane of the busy highway, with traffic swerving dangerously around him. Pilkington pulled her car over, put on her reflective driver safety vest and stopped traffic so she could get across the road to help the man. He said he was weak and having an asthma attack. She safely pulled him off to the side of the road when another motorist stopped to help. Pilkington asked the Good Samaritan to call 911.
In the meantime, Pilkington helped the man calm down and regulate his breathing. He said he was walking from the Special Olympics office in Smithfield to catch a bus home. The distance and the heat clearly overwhelmed him. Pilkington stayed with him until emergency crews arrived on the scene. She later followed up with Special Olympics to check on the man, who was doing fine.
Pilkington didn’t think twice about stopping to help the man, even as so many others perilously sped past him. It’s this dedication to helping others that recently earned her the Personal Impact Award in the Community category from National Express Corporation (NEC), a leader in student transportation. Durham School Services is part of NEC, and Pilkington is one of 11 individuals and teams among NEC’s 220 locations across United States and Canada being recognized for demonstrating the company’s values in action.
“We are proud to acknowledge employees and teams for their hard work and dedication to living our company’s values in the areas of Safety, Customers, People and Community,” said David A. Duke, CEO of National Express Corporation. “Our Values reflect our priorities and we gladly celebrate those who exemplify them.”
About that afternoon last summer, Pilkington said: “I was just glad to be there to help him through it. We are all put on this earth for several reasons. Help one another, peace, gift of giving. That is what life is about.”
Pilkington is CPR-certified, part of the American Medical Corps and a Civil Air Patrol volunteer. She will accept the award at a special event at parent National Express Group’s headquarters in London.
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About our company
Durham School Services, Stock Transportation and Petermann Bus make up National Express Corporation (NEC), headquartered in Warrenville, Ill. As a leader in student transportation, NEC is committed to exceptional safety, outstanding customer service and positive employee relations. Durham and Petermann (United States) and Stock (Canada) operate more than 20,000 buses and serve 450 school districts in 32 states and four provinces. Our success rests with our dedicated employees who live our mission: “Getting kids to school safely, on time and ready to learn.” For more information, visit durhamschoolservices.com.