Disabled Man Left on Icy Bus Leaves Hospital
Rivera has cerebral palsy and is unable to communicate verbally
Monday, Jan 5, 2009 | Updated 3:27 PM EST
Edwin Rivera was reported missing Wednesday afternoon, and was finally found still in the bus, in Brooklyn, early Thursday morning, Christmas Day.
A severely disabled man stranded on a school bus over a brutally cold night has gone home from a Brooklyn hospital.
A spokeswoman says Edwin Rivera was discharged from Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center on Monday, five days after he was found curled up in a parked bus. Prosecutors say the 22-year-old was stuck there for more than 17 hours after leaving his special-needs school.
Rivera has cerebral palsy and is unable to communicate verbally.
Authorities say bus matron Linda Hockaday knowingly left Rivera to rush off to an appointment. She has been fired and arrested on a reckless endangerment charge.
Hockaday's lawyer has suggested the bus driver should bear some of the blame.
A telephone number for Rivera's family rang unanswered Monday.
