An elderly subway train passenger in Philadelphia slipped onto the train tracks after walking too close to the edge of the platform. A fast-acting fellow passenger jumped into action, pulling the man from the tracks and bringing him to safety.
In the video , you can see Alfred McNamee in the lower left hand side of the video walking close to the platform’s edge. One of his feet slipped off the side, and he tumbled onto the electrified tracks below. Luckily for the man, 28-year-old Charles Collins heard the fall and immediately sprang into action. Collins can be seen leaping onto the tracks below and dragging the injured McNamee back up to the platform. The pair both make it safely off the tracks.
McNamee was taken to the hospital, where he suffered a plethora of injuries including a broken back, a shattered knee, broken ribs, and a severe injury to his spleen that may require surgery. The day after the accident, Collins went to the hospital to check on the man he saved and told reporters that he is no hero. Collins says it was just instinct to jump in and save the man and it that people do the same thing.
“No I’m not a hero. I mean, people do the same thing.”
The SEPTA train officials have commended Collins for his heroic actions, but say that there are better ways to handle the situation. The SEPTA Police Inspector Steve Harold says that there are procedures in place to ensure no one gets hurt and that the best plan of action is to inform the cashier of the fall so that they can stop all incoming trains and call for a rescue.
“There’s procedures in place that we would like him to also alert the cashier right away, because that will stop trains from coming in. And alert the police officer, who was actually up by the cashier area.”
