Bus driver hailed as a hero for rescuing toddler walking in the middle of busy street

A New York City bus driver is being hailed a hero for saving a toddler who walked into the middle of a street last month.

Peter Warner, a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, told WABC in New York he was driving his usual route through the Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island on June 19 when he saw a child on the road instead of the sidewalk.

Apparently, the boy managed to get out of the home while his father was sleeping and his mother was at work.

"I noticed a little boy running down the middle of the street. He had his iPad in his hand and a diaper and a tank top, no shoes. And I immediately stopped the bus," Warner recalled.

Warner, a father of two himself, quickly jumped into action.

"I actually blocked the intersection with the bus … I got out, secured my bus, took the baby in my custody," he said.

Warner then contacted the MTA’s Bus Command Center, his union and dialed 911. The young boy was later reunited with his family and Warner said he has connected with the toddler’s mother since the incident.

"She gave me a big hug and she thanked me up and down," said Warner.

With a crisis averted, Warner said he’s glad things turned out the way they did.

"We're friendly on Facebook and she comments on my kids' pictures and stuff like that so, we made a friendship out of it," the driver said.