Driver thanks 'hero' students who saved him from attacker

An Auckland bus driver saved by a group of high school students from a vicious beating has today been re-united with his five teenage helpers.

Ian Magee was driving his Metrolink Route 304 bus when he was attacked by a passenger, in Mangere, early on Tuesday morning.

The stranger - who was arrested later and will appear in court tomorrow - allegedly pulled Mr Magee from the bus and began to beat him.

His attacker is understood to have hit him up to eight times, as he lay on the ground - a number of school students gathered around pleading for the man to stop.

It was then that the group of St Paul's College students sprung into action.

"Without them, I would have got a panning more than I got," Mr Magee said, after his meeting with the boys today.

For 15-year-old Daniel Ah Hong the first instinct was "we have to do something".

He pushed Mr Magee's attacker off him while his four friends kept the stranger away.

After the attack, the boys stayed on the bus as Mr Magee followed his attacker in the bus - trying to stay 10 car lengths behind, and communicating with police by radio.

Two days on, and Daniel, Selwyn Fale, 17, Sione Mesui, 13, Viliami Huapango and Christopher Tu'uta, both 14 - are taking the resulting attention in their stride, and learning to live with accolades such as "hero" and "guardian angels" being bandied about by their jealous classmates.

Though he knew none of their names before today, Mr Magee told the Herald he knew all his helpers by sight, as many of them had been travelling on his bus for years.

The boys are part of a group that travels daily from Mangere to central city schools, including Auckland Girls' Grammar and St Paul's College.

"They're the first on and the last off."

And they are a polite bunch, too, Mr Magee says.
"There's 13 or 14 thankyous as they get off the bus... they have respect for people round."

The boys all have a soft spot for Mr Magee, if for no other reason than the way he treats them every day - like adults, like friends.

"He always says hi to us. He's pretty cool," Daniel says.

All of them are keen to see Mr Magee back behind the wheel.

"We really need him back, because he is the best.

"He takes care of us."

Mr Magee - who hopes to return to work on Monday - will have to pay at least one more visit to the doctor to check on his injuries, which include a nasty lump on his right temple and a badly-bruised eye.

But his wife, Faatoese Magee, can only imagine what might have happened if the boys had not been there to help.

"I am really happy that the boys were there. I don't know what injuries Ian would have got that day."