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MANSFIELD — Elizabeth McCallister looked like she was sleeping.
A hotel custodian, McCallister was waiting for her next bus at the Richland County Transit depot on North Diamond Street to take her to work. Sanoe Kumai is McCallister’s usual bus driver at 8:30 a.m.
“I know everyone who rides my bus, but I didn’t know Elizabeth because she’s only been riding with me for a few weeks,” she said.
“I saw her in the transit center and I thought she was sleeping. But then, I saw her phone was on the ground.
“I rubbed her arm and asked ‘Do you need help?’ She woke up and her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear anything, so I asked another RCT worker to radio emergency medical services.”
EMS arrived at the transit center on Sept. 18 to take McCallister to the hospital. She was treated and is now back to work.
Though Kumai didn’t know Elizabeth’s name, she wanted to go to her workplace to tell her where she was.
“I knew her job would have an emergency contact on file and they could tell her family what was going on,” Kumai said. “I told my supervisor that she’d see me go off route because I wanted to make sure her family and her job knew what was going on.”
‘I would hope anyone would do that for my family’
Christine Terry, general manager for Richland County Transit, said she is proud of Kumai’s quick thinking that Wednesday morning.
“I am not surprised that she jumped in and helped the way that she did,” Terry said. “Sanoe is a very wonderful employee to have.
“She is never afraid to jump in and help everyone — passengers, co-workers and management. We have many employees who are always watching out for others. They are not just out there driving around, they are looking, listening and helping.”
Assistant general manager Tara Burchett echoed Terry’s sentiment.
“Sanoe is a pleasure to work with and she cares fiercely for her co-workers and passengers,” she said. “She has a big heart and we are lucky to have her working for us.”
Kumai has lived in Mansfield since 2019, where she moved from Hawaii.
“My daughter married a Mansfield boy and I wanted to be closer to my grandkids,” she said.
Kumai also worked with people with developmental disabilities in Colorado. She learned CPR and how to respond to seizures or other medical events while there.
“I used to be a 9-1-1 operator in Hawaii, so maybe that’s where my thought process came from,” she said.
“I guess it’s just dealing with different scenarios in different jobs that helped in that situation.”
Kumai spoke humbly about her actions.
“I didn’t do much, anyone would do it,” she said. “I would hope anyone would do that for my family.”
