A kind-hearted bus driver who helped to reunite lost nine-year-old twins with their parents yesterday said he was just doing his job.

Reid Simmons stepped in after Amaya and Quinton Husband got on the wrong bus and ended up at the bus terminal in St George’s, which was miles away from their intended destination of their mother’s office in Hamilton.

While panicked mom Laura Husband called the children’s school, its after-school programme and the transport authorities in a desperate attempt to track the children down, Mr Simmons stayed with them in St George’s.

He let them use his mobile phone to call her husband, Damiso, to tell him they were safe and to pick them up.

Mr Simmons, a father of two, said the reunion was “very heart-wrenching”.

He added: “As soon as they saw their father, they ran to him. He thanked me from the bottom of his heart.”

Mr Simmons said he told Mr Husband the decision to look after the children was an easy one.

He added: “I told him I would do this for anybody.”

A colleague in St George’s supplied the children with sodas while they waited for their father.

Mr Simmons said he and his fellow transportation workers were more than just bus drivers.

He explained: “I believe that we’re ambassadors also.

“People might think that it’s just a job and you drive up and down and drop people off, but if you love what you do, which I do, then this is part of the job.”

The drama began on Wednesday afternoon when the children, normally picked up by Mr Husband, set out to travel to Hamilton by bus.

Ms Husband said: “On occasion, we allow them to catch the bus, and they get very excited to do it.”

She added the children normally arrived to meet her at work just before 4pm.

Ms Husband said she became nervous when they were late and contacted her husband to confirm that the children had taken the bus.

She added: “We started to get a little panicked.”

But Ms Husband said her husband got a call from the children just before 5pm to say they had ended up in St George’s.

Ms Husband said: “They were nervous. They weren’t sure if they should get off the bus and cross the street and wait for another bus, so they just decided to stay on the bus and see where they ended up.”

She said the pair “bravely” decided to approach the bus driver to ask to borrow his phone to call their father.

Ms Husband added: “I was very happy that they actually went to him and said something.”

After the youngsters explained the situation to their father, he spoke to Mr Simmons.

Mr Husband said: “He was very nice and he seemed very concerned for the children.

“He told me he was going to wait until I got there, which I really appreciated. It put me at ease.”

Mr Husband said he arrived in the East End to find his children safe and sound with Mr Simmons.

He added: “I just shook his hand and told him that he was a godsend.

“It’s good to know that there are good people out there that can look out for your children.”

Ms Husband said the incident had sparked a decision to consider a couple of new purchases.

She added: “We’ll be looking into cell phones.”