A quick-thinking transport employee is being hailed as a hero for rescuing a stricken commuter from certain death after they fell onto the tracks, mere seconds before an oncoming train came speeding into the station.
Stunned commuters were left stunned at transit worker John O’Connor’s selflessness and bravery after he bent down, grabbed the fallen man by the shoulders, pulled him up off the tracks, and then rolled away with him as the train pulled into the station at roughly 36mph. CCTV footage of the whole incredible incident was shared by San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
“There wasn’t a lot of time to think,” O’Connor said after the incident at Coliseum Station in Oakland. “I just grabbed him and pulled him out... God put me there for a reason, I think.”
The unidentified passenger was intoxicated and accidentally fell onto the tracks at the busy station after an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The visibly drunk commuter mis-stepped and fell onto the tracks below, almost certain to meet his maker, were not for the lightning-fast reflexes of O’Connor.
“I thought the train was going to cut him in half, honestly,” O’Connor told local news station KPIX. “I didn’t want to see this guy die.”
The two men shared a hug after the incident and O’Connor told the passenger to pay it forward.
“The crowd was shocked at just how close of a call it was, and the man was rattled,” passenger Tony Badilla, who witnessed the embrace in the aftermath, said. “The BART worker was upset with the man for being so careless, but his emotions took over and the two embraced.”
O’Connor is a former train operator who was promoted to transportation supervisor and has worked for BART for 24 years.
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