He still doesn't quite understand the hysteria over him

..."He remembers what happened and asks about the passengers and whether anyone was killed, and what happened to the terrorist. He still doesn't quite understand the hysteria over him.

Photo credit: Zuri Magnezi

Yehuda Shlezinger..
Israel Hayom..
25 January '15..


"I had no choice, I had to try to save people," says Herzl Biton, the bus driver who was wounded in the stabbing attack on the No. 40 bus in Tel Aviv last week. Biton spoke to Channel 10 on Saturday.

Biton, who is still hospitalized at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, was transferred out of the intensive care ward over the weekend.

Describing the attack, Biton said, "[The terrorist] stabbed me as I was driving 60 kph [37 mph], ran back and started stabbing the passengers. I started to swerve the bus so people would see there was a problem. He went from seat to seat. I swung him to the right and he stabbed the people sitting on the right, and I swung [the bus] left and he stabbed the people there. I had no choice but to bring him to me. I slammed on the brakes and he fell onto me. I got up, started to spray him with [pepper spray.] He gave me a few blows to the face and I punched him. I didn't let go of his hand," Biton said.

The driver said he opened the bus doors. "From the struggle, there was a pool of blood. He got off the bus and started to run away, stabbing people. And I started to chase him."

Biton's family was with him at the hospital throughout the weekend. His son Yaakov told Israel Hayom: "Dad is feeling a little better, but he's still not strong enough."


Yaakov Biton mentioned the many visitors who continued to arrive and ask after his father.

"There's a huge wave of visitors. It doesn't stop. Sometimes it's a little difficult because he gets excited when he talks with people, and then his blood pressure spikes. It really warms the heart to see the hundreds of people who come to see how he's doing."

The son said his father still wasn't speaking normally. "He remembers what happened and asks about the passengers and whether anyone was killed, and what happened to the terrorist. He still doesn't quite understand the hysteria over him. We tell him gently when people are talking about him, so he won't get too worked up."

In addition to Biton, two women wounded in the attack are still hospitalized. One is still in intensive care, listed in moderate, stable condition, and the second is hospitalized in the EEG ward, also listed as moderate and stable.

Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=23047

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