BUFFALO, N.Y. — ​It was just a routine day on the job for Robert Oehler, when he was pressed to do something he didn't even know he could do.

Robert Oehler has been an NFTA bus driver for nearly eight years, and safety of the passengers is paramount.

“Making sure your eyes are continuously moving,” Oehler said. “You’re always checking your mirrors, checking your surroundings around your bus.”

On April 27, it all came into play. While at a stop, Robert and another passenger noticed a man struggling to breathe and they jumped into action.

“There was another gentlemen passenger seated over here,” Oehler explained. “He got up and put his arms around the gentlemen like this. I grabbed the gentlemen’s feet and we brought him up to this area of the bus where it’s wider. I just bent down and started going on his chest like this to get the blood flowing again so this way he would start to breathe again.”

Robert didn’t have any training. He says he learned to do chest compressions from watching TV.

“I believe I was like, ‘Hey, c’mon let’s go. Today’s not your day. You’re not doing this today,” he said.

He then called in the emergency and crews arrived to help the man a few minutes later. Heroic actions to keep a man alive, even if Robert doesn’t think so.

“I’m just an NFTA bus operator transporting people from point A to point B safely and on time. And that day, safety was this gentlemen’s life,” he said.

That’s why Robert Oehler is our 2021 American Red Cross Workplace Safety Real Hero.