Medical Student Saves Bleeding Pensioner on a Bus and Escorts Her to Hospital in Kolín

In Kolín, a 17-year-old medical college student named Pavel Rudolf came to the aid of an elderly bus passenger who fell ill mid-journey: the woman felt dizzy, collapsed and injured her face. The teenager, who was on his way to school, kept his cool and immediately stepped in to help.

According to the second-year student at Kolín's Secondary Medical School, a woman named Marie already looked flushed and out of breath before she fell — and once she sat back down, it became clear that half her face was covered in blood. Without hesitation, the young man pulled a pack of tissues and a bandage out of his bag. "I didn't know how serious it was. I just grabbed whatever came to mind so I wouldn't have to leave her side," he recalls.

Two other female passengers joined in to help — together they cleaned and dressed the wound on the pensioner's face, then tried to figure out where she was headed so they could contact someone close to her.

But the story didn't end there. As the other passengers got off the bus one by one, the young man noticed the woman was becoming confused and decided to accompany her to the hospital. To do so, he skipped his first class of the day and got off the bus with her right at Kolín's hospital.

"She wanted to call her sister, but instead she dialed what seemed to be a military hospital. I stopped the call," Pavel recounts. He walked the woman to the emergency reception, found her a wheelchair, and together with a nurse filled out all the necessary paperwork, all the while reassuring her, since she couldn't remember what had happened or how she'd ended up at the hospital. Eventually the nurse took over and sent the student back to school. Doctors later diagnosed the woman with an orbital fracture and a concussion.

The young man barely mentioned what he'd done at school — he only asked his parents to write a note explaining his tardiness. He says the first-aid training that's part of the medical college curriculum is what helped him handle the situation: "Thanks to that training, I was able to assess the situation and react properly. The nervousness disappeared, and I acted with more confidence." He admits he carries bandages and tissues with him almost all the time.

The woman he saved, Marie Fialová, later publicly thanked the young man, saying she has no idea how things would have turned out without his help, and noting that there are still caring people among today's youth. The student's act was also recognized by officials in his hometown of Kutná Hora: on the last day of the school year, representatives of the city administration and municipal police came to the school for the diploma ceremony, thanked Pavel in front of his entire class, and brought the rescued pensioner along with them.

Around Prague, based on reporting by kolinsky.denik.cz