EAST ST. LOUIS-A Metro Transit bus driver being hailed a hero. His quick thinking may have saved the life of a two-year-old .  

Nick Autoomp has been working for Metro Transit for six years.  

One Saturday morning in April, Nick was driving one of his routes in East St. Louis when something caught his eye.  

A toddler was sitting in a field alone. Nick immediately knew something wasn’t right. He pulled over, went and picked up the little boy and brought him onto the bus.  

Nick said it was a chilly morning and the child was just in his diaper so he wrapped him in his coat and gave him food and water from the lunch he had brought.  

After Nick got the toddler settled, he called his supervisor who then called the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. Nick held the toddler as they waited for police.  

Metro transit spokesperson Patti Beck said Nick is the type of employee everyone wants to have and he’s also very modest .  

“In talking about what he did in rescuing this child he is so modest and says I was just doing my job, anybody would have done this,” said Beck.  

According to police the toddler was reunited with his mother. 

Nick often thinks about the little boy and is grateful he was there that morning.