A 78-year-old crossing guard is being hailed a hero after he was hit by a car while protecting students trying to cross the street in San Jose.
“I go by Bill,” said John Williams “Bill” Briggs.
The 78-year-old he’s been a crossing guard for over seven years and a hero for many.
”I’m just an ordinary guy, I’d do what anybody would do to protect their family, I’m not a hero,” said Bill.
But those he protects everyday—think otherwise.
“He always puts the kids first,” said Anika Tandon, an eighth grader at Bret Harte Middle School.
He calls the entire student population at Bret Harte Middle School his family.
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On Wednesday, he was hit by a car as he tried to help a group of students cross the street, including Tandon, on the intersection of Bret Harte and Via Valiente.
He said the light had just turned yellow, so he took out his stop sign and he started walking toward the middle and then he realized the car turning toward him wasn’t going to stop in time.
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“I blow my whistle and the kids step off, so they’re coming maybe five or six feet before they reach me, but before they reach me, that car hit me,” said Bill, adding that the car threw him 10 feet up the street.
Shocking students and his partner, who’s also a crossing guard, and was just up the street when she heard the crash.
”I was just stunned, just absolutely stunned,” said Paula Mitchell.
”I went to go help him and some other kids did too, and I called 911 because he was in a lot of pain,” said Tandon.
Bill said he has several stressed ligaments and tendons, but he’d go back and do it all again if he needed to.
“They're my family and I said if someone wants to get to my family they have to go through me first,” he said.
For now, he and his partner have one message.
“Please, please, slow down in the school zone and if you see that yellow light, stop, even if it means caution, stop,” said Bill.