Boston woman's subway near-miss
Updated on 10 November 2009
A Boston train driver is being hailed as a hero after managing to avoid hitting a woman who had fallen on the tracks when alerted by passengers on the station platform.
Orange Line operator Charice Lewis saw the passengers at the platform waving their arms in the hope of getting her to stop, and at the same time she received a radio warning to pull the emergency brakes.
"I saw the people, the people were waving. That's normal after a game," she said. "The people were waving, but they were waving a little bit too much and they were really, really close to the yellow line, which they are not supposed to be. So that's obviously telling me 'slow your train down, slow your train down'.
"Then as I'm approaching, the lady pops her head up, and I'm like 'Oh my God, someone's in the pit'. So I just threw it in emergency, exactly what I'm supposed to do. And it stopped just in time not to hurt her."
Surveillance video released by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) shows the woman struggling to maintain her balance at a Boston station on 6 November.
Unable to keep herself upright, she topples off the platform - just as a train approaches. The video shows the train coming to a halt right in front of the fallen woman. The bystanders then helped her climb up to the platform, where she appeared unhurt.
Reports said the woman was intoxicated and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Lewis received a call from the governor after the incident and was honoured as a hero yesterday by Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan. Other employees gave her and inspector Jacqueline Osorio, who was standing on the platform and sent the radio warning, a standing ovation during an MBTA meeting on Monday afternoon.
