ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s often said if you stay ready, then you don’t have to get ready. These words ring true for Brandon Corrales who moved quickly to get life-saving medical attention for his Lynx bus driver at the VA Medical Center in Lake Nona.
Brandon Corrales said a few weeks ago he was on his way home from work when the bus operator had a medical emergency.
Brandon, a young man with autism, says he noticed when things seemed a bit off.
“She fell on her knees and then on her back and the passenger said call 911. Every panic mode that I have in my body just vanished. I just rushed outside and went to help,” Corrales said.
Corrales said he stepped off the bus and flagged down a nurse to call 911. He went back on the bus, waiting with the bus driver for help to arrive.
“James and I immediately took off running towards the CLC,” Crowell said.
Assistant nurse manager Kevin Crowell and nurse manager James Brown were the first to arrive.
“…Once we were on scene, we noticed that there was a patient in a bus that needed help. We were able to get them placed on a spine board, get them removed from the vehicle and then placed on a stretcher and immediately taken back to the emergency room for stabilization and further care,” Brown said.
Corrales said, “I felt relief and happy to see them come on the bus and make sure she is okay and they did need help getting equipment inside the bus the shoulder pad and for the finger they said they couldn’t reach it to get to her and without hesitation. I just helped the doctors, put the shoulder pad on her and the finger on her and press the power button on.”
Standing shoulder to shoulder with first responders, helping someone in need. Corrales said something took hold of him that day, guiding him to rush for help.
“That’s the thing, something snapped inside me when this happened. I’m like, help her help her, no panic mode, and the FDNY Fire blood awoken in me and I wanted to help this lady and I got her the help that she needed,” he said.
The FDNY Fire blood a nod to his father and uncle who both served as firefighters in New York City.
Brandon’s father, Luis Corrales, said, “I was first very worried because Brandon is autistic. I was more afraid that Brandon would be more panicked than helpful but Brandon mentioned first time that I’ve heard that he has the FDNY blood in him, which is very emotional because myself and his Uncle Richard Pagan, we call him “Chino.” He told us that’s where he gets his inspiration to help people,” Luis Corrales said.
And helping a bus driver get life-saving medical care is what Brandon Corrales did, a true hero in his own right doing the right thing to simply help someone in need.
“There’s always that one person willing to help others,” Brandon Corrales said.