Moment Chicago commuter, 20, leaps onto subway tracks to
rescue man who had fallen onto electrified third rail after a brawl and
pulled him to safety: 'I could feel the shocks through my body but it
didn't stop me'
A
20-year-old Chicago man is being celebrated as a hero after he leaped
into action to save the life of a man who fell on the subway's
potentially deadly third electrified rail... read and watch the video
Anthony
Perry, 20, was honored in a ceremony on Wednesday by a local community
leader who awarded him a new car for his heroism.
Perry
told WGN TV about the moment he saved the man's life: 'I don’t think I
was thinking about what could happen to me at the moment. It was more of
what do I have to do to make the situation peaceful. I felt a little
shock. I felt it all over my body actually, and then I just didn’t let
that stop me.'
The incident occurred on at
3:30 p.m. Sunday at the 69th Street Red Line CTA station in the Greater
Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago.
According to authorities in Chicago, the man fell on to the rail after a fight with another commuter.
The shocking video shows the man's body pulsating as the electricity courses his body.
The hero can be seen jumping on to the tracks and
carefully jumping over the rail so as not to be electrocuted himself.
Perry had just exited a train when he saw the man on the tracks.
In the video, Perry jumps back slightly when he touches the man's body.
He then starts to pull the man away from the rail. With the help of another witness, Perry administered CPR to the man.
He
was helped in his life-saving efforts by a woman who who knew CPR.
Perry told Fox Chicago: 'She was talking me through on what to do. I
feel like that was an angel from God. I ended up doing chest
compressions and turning him on his side until the fire department got
there.'
The man who is shown being
electrocuted in the video, 32, walked up to the other man and instigated
the fight by spitting on him, witnesses said.
The two men fought and both ended up on the tracks, reports Fox Chicago.
The man who filmed the event, Tavi Ghee, told ABC Chicago: 'It was definitely surreal. That was an out-of-body experience.'
A subsequent video posted by Ghee showed the two men rolling on the tracks with each other.
The two men can be seen exchanging blows until the man in the white shirt becomes trapped on the third rail.
The other man leaves the scene begins to get electrocuted with 600 volts coursing through him.
In
an interview with CBS News, Perry described the scene saying: 'I
immediately noticed there was a fight because both guys got their dukes
up – they were like putting their stuff down.'
He
continued: 'I could've kept walking, but I was like, you know what? I'm
not going to keep walking - because God wouldn't want me to do that, so
I took action immediately.'
Perry added: 'I
was thinking about, if that was me in that situation, how would I want
people to treat me? I'm just happy that the guy was alive, more than
anything. I didn't see myself as a hero, to be honest.'
The man who was electrocuted is being treated at the University of Chicago Hospital and is in serious condition.
The other man managed to get off the tracks and ran out of the station. Investigators are still working to identify the man.
At
a ceremony honoring his actions Perry told the gathered media: 'I was
hoping I could just grab him and not feel nothing but I felt a little
shock.'
Perry said of the witnesses: 'When I
looked back on the video and I listen, it sounded like everyone was in
fear … no one actually did anything, they just wanted to record.'
During
the same ceremony, Chicago philanthropist Early Walker presented Perry
with a gas card. When Perry said that he had no need for a gas card as
the didn't have a car, Walker presented him with a 2008 Audi A6, to the
hero's disbelief.
Perry told the media that he typically had a 90
minute commute to his job at an Amazon Fresh in Oak Lawn in suburban
Chicago, taking two buses and a train.
The
hero is a graduate of Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn. Perry
played as a defensive back for the school's Bulldogs football team where
he was considered in the top 50 players in the state, according to his
Max Preps page.
After receiving the car, Perry said: 'Good does win. Good always wins.'
Early
Walker is the founder of the group, I'm Telling Don't Shoot, which
describes itself on Facebook as: 'Group of business owners team up to
offer reward money to help find the killers of our babies!'
Walker told the media at the ceremony honoring Perry: 'We need more Anthonys in the world. We need more people like this.'
Chicago
Police Department Lieutenant Yolanda Irving told WAGM TV: 'This is just
a prime example of how a young man took it upon himself to jump in and
do the right thing.'
According to the CTA, if
you see someone on the tracks, notify a CTA employee will in turn notify
the control center who will turn off power to the third rail.
Persons 'should never try to enter the right of way, or try to remove the person themselves, as they risk electrocution.'
Comments
Post a Comment