A bus driver in Butler County, Ohio, is being praised for finding a little girl who went missing from her home last week.
Lakesha English had only been working for the Butler County Regional Transit Authority for about six weeks when the unexpected happened, according to WLWT.
The young mom was driving near Fairfield Crossing shopping center when she saw 11-year-old Pandora Phipps wandering all by herself.
“I seen an itty bitty, little tiny girl sitting over in the corner and as I soon as I pulled up, I gravitated straight towards her. I had a feeling in my soul that something wasn’t right,” English recalled.
Authorities said when Pandora’s family went to bed around 10 p.m. on October 25, they woke up the next morning to find she was gone.
English spotted the little girl four miles away from her home on Walnut Street.
“I asked her how did she get there, and she told me she walked,” the bus driver said.
Surveillance footage from inside the vehicle showed Pandora climbing inside as English watched.
“Be careful. You can sit right there and get warm if you want to,” she told her.
English then made a call to dispatchers who alerted Hamilton police officers.
“I couldn’t imagine pulling away from that stop and not helping her. Anything could have happened to her. The wrong person could have approached her,” English noted.
Pandora’s family said they are grateful to the kind-hearted bus driver for taking care of their child and hope to stay in touch.
Despite the praise she received, English does not consider herself a hero and is just happy Pandora is back home.
“It warms my heart. It really does. I’m trying not to cry. I’ve been trying not to cry. I spoke with her mom last night. It really warms my heart, you know, and I would do it 10 times over again,” English concluded.
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