Good Samaritan Recovering After Being Struck By Vehicle While Helping Mother, Children Whose Car Stalled Out On Bridge
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A good Samaritan helped a stranded driver and her children to safety, only to be struck by a car on Philadelphia's Platt Bridge. The man is recovering and being hailed a hero.
The mother of two says she called police dispatch three times while stuck on that bridge but the only person to come to her aid was a passerby.
This is what's left of Shauntae Brown's minivan after an accident Tuesday Night on the Platte Bridge when her car stalled out in the left lane.
But it could have been much worse.
"I would say five to 10 minutes went by and Lou rode by and then he stopped real short and parked in front of my car," Brown said.
Lou Gusbar and a friend were driving by around 11 p.m. when he saw Brown's disabled vehicle. He stopped and found Brown with her two children, Desmond and Dariaun.
"After some cars were swerving and going too fast -- we were all scared so we knew we had to get those kids out of there," Gusbar said.
Stranded on the busy bridge, they helped Brown and her children move to the sidewalk and walk off the bridge to safety.
Gusbar then returned to the vehicles.
"Got back up there, put my dog in the car and noticed that the hazards on the minivan were no longer on, so it was just a dark car sitting there on the street. So I was like, 'I need to go turn those hazards on so somebody doesn't hit it," Gusbar said. "And at that point, somebody must have hit me. Next couple hours from that is all very blurry for me."
He suffered a concussion, minor brain bleeding and broken ribs.
Eyewitness News spoke with him as he was released from the hospital Friday. He says he feels good.
"I just stopped and did what I think most people would have done. It turned out to be the right thing. If I didn't, who knows what would have happened," Gusbar said.
Brown says the accident could've been avoided if somebody had responded to the dispatch call.
Eyewitness News reached out to Public Affairs but have not heard back.
