Lakewood Man Crushed by an RTA Bus in Critical Condition

A Lakewood man is fighting for his life at MetroHealth Medical Center after he was run over by an RTA bus on Detroit Avenue early Monday morning.

As he lie in a pool of his own blood — and several motorists passed him by — a Lakewood woman stopped to help.

She may have saved his life.

The 46-year-old Lakewood man was struck by the No. 26 bus headed east as he tried to catch it at around 5 a.m.

Heidi Byroads was on her way to work at Lakewood Hospital — where she’s a nurse — when she found him lying on the south side of the street at around 5:15 a.m. 

The man, an employee of Medical Mutual of Ohio, told her that the bus stuck him and that it continued east after it hit him. 

“It looked it dragged him halfway down the street,” Byroads said. “I never, in million years, thought that someone would be hit by a bus and left for dead.” 

After frantically trying to flag down cars for help — she forgot her cell phone at home — someone finally stopped and called 911.

Byroads used her skills as a nurse to ask him vital questions and comfort him, before paramedics and police arrived.

Police and EMS showed up on the scene within moments, along with an RTA supervisor.

Officials at RTA declined to comment, instead directing questions about the incident to Lakewood police.

Capt. Gary Sprague, of the Lakewood Police Department, said officers are investigating the incident, but added that it appears as if the driver was unaware that the man had been run over.

“(The victim) was running late and the bus was pulling away,” said Sprague. “He tried banging on the side entrance, and at some point he tripped and fell down."

The man’s legs were crushed and several bones were broken, with injuries described by one fire department official as “life-threatening.”

“You can imagine the weight of a bus running over someone’s legs,” added Sprague. 

As of 8 p.m. Monday, police still hadn’t been able to locate — to question — the driver, said Sprague.

The man is listed in critical condition at MetroHealth.