Attacked bus driver can’t talk or stand
The daughter of a bus driver brutally attacked during a latenight run in West Auckland has been told he was stomped so badly he can neither speak nor stand, and faces a long recovery.
Gabrielle Wildbore said her father, 69, was now in a stable condition in Auckland City Hospital but recovery would be slow going.
David Bahler was driving a bus on Great North Rd at Waterview when he was attacked by a passenger at 10.30pm on Wednesday.
“It appears that the offender has crossed the Covid barriers that they had in place and then I understand Dad was pulled out of the seat and into the aisle and stomped on,” Wildbore said. She is unable to visit him due to strict Covid regulations.
She said it was lucky the passenger didn’t use a knife he was alleged to have had on him.
It was the second time in weeks Bahler had been attacked on the job.
He had recently returned to work after three teenagers tried to gouge his eyes out in Henderson, leaving him with scratches and bruises across his head, and smashed glasses.
A Givealittle page raised nearly $30,000 to replace the broken spectacles.
Now Bahler is facing an even more trying ordeal. Wildbore reveals no part of his body was spared when he was set upon by the passenger.
However, she is grateful he survived.
“Dad’s just super unlucky — wrong place, wrong time. I don’t know how he’s going to come back from this. He’s not able to speak or stand at this point.”
Bahler is set to undergo cognitive tests next week but “it is going to be a long road to recovery”.
“My poor dad. He’s so gorgeous. He’s just the sweetest man. He’s as tough as old boots — he’s ex-Army artillery, expolice, ex-dog handler so he knows how to hold his own but he’s just the most lovely, easy person to be around. He just doesn’t deserve it.”
Wildbore said he had returned to driving soon after the August 29 attack.
“He was back at work within a week. He just wanted to get back in that bus. He said the longer that he leaves it the more impossible it would be to get back.”
She said she urged him to get a different professional driving job, but he revelled in being a bus driver.
“I want him to get a job driving a truck, not driving a bus but he’s a people person. He does it because he loves the contact with people.”
Wildbore said she was now concerned for the safety of all bus drivers. She thought it was time drivers were set apart from passengers in safety cages to protect them from harm.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old man has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a knife in a public place and appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday.