Three Taupō school students have been praised for stepping in when a passenger started strangling their bus driver.
Taupō Nui A Tia College students Brandon Pakome, Tawhiri Ryan and Stacey Matangi regularly ride together on the bus. Two of them live in Turangi and one at Hatepe.
But a trip home one wintry afternoon will be forever etched in their memories.
As the bus carrying 35 people made its way, an adult passenger started strangling the driver.
One of the boys went up from their seats at the back of the bus to try to deescalate the situation.
He pulled the attacker back, and another then held him, while the first boy stood between the man and the driver.
The boys' reaction saved a bus full of passengers from a possible dangerous situation that could have cost lives.
Their heroic actions did cost them a trip to the principal's office - but they weren't in trouble.
"I was just so proud of these boys. They just did what was right at the right time," the principal said.
The boys have reenacted what they did on the bus that day for TVNZ1's Seven Sharp. Check it out in the video above.
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