Disaster nearly struck on Thursday when a blind man accidentally fell onto the tracks of the TTC subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Thankfully with the help of a few bystanders, the man was helped back to safety before any trains came by.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Kyle Busquine, 24, said in an interview with The Toronto Star that he heard “muffled screams” and saw the man on the track on the opposite end of the station when his train pulled in.
“Once I got out of the train, I heard him saying, ‘Help, help, please help’ … He looked hurt,” Busquine said. “He was barely able to get some of the words out.”
He quickly sprang into action, jumping onto the tracks and helping the man back onto the platform with the help of two other passengers.
“At that moment, I was just on adrenalin,” he said. “It’s not something you ever want to see.”
A TTC spokesperson told the outlet the train driver pressed the emergency button at the end of the platform to cut power to the third before any of the rescuers jumped on the track. Had any of them touched the rail when the current was still running, that would have been electrocuted.
Julie Caniglia, a woman who was on Busquine’s train, snapped a photo of he and the other two rescuers standing on the platform after the blind man had been helped up. The picture generated more than 49,000 likes.
The Toronto Sun reported that the man was taken to a nearby hospital after the incident. No information has been released about his identity.
“You just don’t know if there’s another train coming, she told the Sun. “He (Busquine) didn’t even think about it.”
She said she posted the photo thanking the three men because of the positive message it sends ot the public.
“It was amazing,” she added. “We all need a bit of positive reinforcement that there’s some great people out there.”
The incident caused many, including Caniglia, to call for protective barriers to be put in place at the edge of subway platforms.
“I have young kids, what if they accidentally tripped?” she asked. “We’re so vulnerable standing there on the platform.
“Clearly, bumpy edge markers are not enough,” a Twitter user wrote in response to the story. “More evidence for need for barriers and doors.”
A separate incident took place on June 18 at a Toronto subway station when a 73-year-old was allegedly pushed off a platform and died.
