Bernard and Sonia Greenberg don’t often take the bus outside their Glen Park Ave. apartment building, but this time they didn’t have much of a choice.

Walking to synagogue along Marlee Ave. on Friday, Bernard, an energetic 80-year-old with a sharp sense of humour, began to feel faint. His feet became “like rubber.”

“I can’t walk,” he told his wife. “My head feels like it’s exploding.”

The couple stopped to rest at a bus stop. There was a clinic nearby, but “there was no way he could walk even a step at this point,” said Sonia, who didn’t have money or a phone with her.

While a woman at the bus stop offered them money for a cab — Bernard wanted to go home —the northbound 109B bus rolled up and driver Claire Bilsborough stepped out, took Bernard by the arm and guided him onto the bus.

“I was a little bit in shock, but I didn’t have the strength to argue with her. I knew I had to go somewhere,” he said.

Bilsborough planned to drive the couple to their building, which was along her route, before she saw how sick Bernard looked.

“I said, ‘You can argue with your wife, but you’re not arguing with me. I’m taking you to the doctor’s,’ ” she said.

She whisked him straight to the clinic and helped him inside. The bus’s 25-odd passengers waited while the driver stayed and spoke to a nurse to ensure Bernard was taken care of before continuing on her route.

Bilsborough has been driving TTC buses for more than 14 years and drove school buses before that.

“I treat all the people out there as my kids,” she said.

TTC personnel are not required to physically assist passengers in medical emergencies, said spokesperson Jessica Martin.

“In this case, the operator did go above and beyond,” Martin said. “It’s quite extraordinary.”

Sonia Greenberg, who called the TTC to commend Bilsborough, agreed. “She deserves a medal.”

In the end, it could have been worse for Bernard.

He took an ambulance to the hospital but was only experiencing a low heart rate and felt fine later that afternoon.

“It just shows you some people are willing to go above and beyond what’s expected,” he said.

The Greenbergs also had help from the woman at the bus stop, who followed them to the clinic and left them $77 just in case they needed a cab to the hospital.

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“This woman’s an angel. I’d never seen her before, and she must have emptied her purse,” Sonia said.

The Greenbergs, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary in March, still have the $77 in an envelope to return to the woman.

If they can’t find her, they said they will donate the money to charity.