A 90-year-old woman is crediting a Robinson Independent School District bus driver for saving her life.
On Monday afternoon, Margie Nell Fairman had a freak accident after picking up her mail from her mailbox located across the street from her home.
“I was looking at the mail and all of the sudden a big gust of wind came and the door hit me, and when it hit me, I fell," Fairman said.
The Robinson resident was trapped in a five-foot ditch covered in prickly shrub for an hour.
“I couldn’t move because it was more or less holding me tight," Fairman said. “At one time, I almost gave up and I said ‘no, God is going to send somebody and he sent Sherrie here.'”
Robinson ISD bus driver Sherrie Bonilla who was driving in the area as part of her afternoon route didn't see Fairman in the ditch but did notice something unusual.
“I noticed the car was facing oncoming traffic in the curve, the door was open and no one was in the car. I kind of had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right because I didn’t see anybody," Bonilla said.
The 37-year-old woman said this prompted to call another bus driver who had already passed through the area to ask her if she had seen the car with the door open 15 minutes ago.
When the other bus driver told her she had, Bonilla decided to call her dispatcher for him to call the police.
“I figured, I rather call the police and she is fine than find out something horrible had happened and in this case, something horrible had happened and I was able to help her that day," Bonilla said.
Fairman did have scrapes and bruises after the accident but she knows it could have been much worse.
“If it hadn’t been for Sherrie, I would still be laying down there dead," Fairman said. “I’m 90 years old and I’m not ready to go yet.”
On Friday, the City of Robinson mowed the lawn and removed the shrub from the ditch at the request of Fairman. She also plans to park farther away from the mailbox when she picks up her mail to prevent that from happening again.
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