Police praise heroic passenger who jumped on Tube tracks to save man's life

Authorities say the man's actions 'avoided what could have been a tragedy'

Georgina Stubbs

Wednesday 17 August 2016 18:10

A man jumps onto tube tracks at Tottenham Court Road to pull a fallen man to safety

(PA/British Transport Police)

Police are trying to trace a brave passenger who jumped onto live Tube tracks to pull a fallen man to safety, endangering his own life in the process.

On Tuesday, shortly before 5pm, a 47-year-old man was standing on a northbound Northern Line platform at Tottenham Court Road Underground station when he suddenly became unwell.

He stumbled on the platform and fell onto the tracks - prompting an unknown bystander to jump onto the live rails and pull him safely back onto the platform.

The man was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to hospital, but received only light cuts and bruises and will make a full recovery.

Praising the work of the bystander, Superintendent Chris Horton, of British Transport Police, said: “Going onto the tracks is extremely dangerous but the bravery of this man has to be praised.

“The man sprung to the rescue and hauled him back onto the platform, whilst other commuters alerted the emergency services.

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

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1/13Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Sam Wallace, Football Correspondent

"I still play pub cricket when I'm on A-roads. Any pub with a name that includes something with legs (eg, fox and hounds, coach and horses) you get a run per leg. Pass a pub with a name that does not reference anything with a leg and you lose a wicket. As kids we used play against each other, with the pubs divided up according to which side of the car you were on and which side of the road the pubs were."

Mike Poloway

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Ibrahim Salha, SEO Editor

"Equally addictive as it is fist-bitingly difficult, Flappy Bird is so playable you’ll easily forget that you were meant to be at work the best part of three hours ago. Bonus: you’ll feel positively tranquil about the tube delays after falling to your death for the fiftieth time in a row."

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Felicity Morse, social media editor

"I try and turn all the tube stations into foods: eg 'Nutting Mill Gate, Pie Street Ken, Parsons Nose'. It whets my appetite for supper/breakfast."

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Louisa Saunders, Associate Features Editor

"The quizup app is totally addictive, with sets of question on everything from Mean Girls to economics. You can play your friends, too"

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Kashmira Gander: Online news reporter

Dreaming of warmer climes while you’re surrounded by stressed, sweating commuters becomes a little easier with HitList. This app allows users to create a global bucket-list of potential holidays, made realistic by it only allowing you to choose from places that friends live, have visited or want to go. It then sends you alerts when airplane prices drop to an affordable level.

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Simon Usborne, Independent Feature Writer

"Pocket’s a brilliant read later app. On Chrome you have a button. On your phone it’s an option when you hold down on a link. Or if you’re offline you can email something to your Pocket. Then your Pocket app presents the stories in easy-to-read, offline form. SO you can catch up with stuff you’ve been meaning to read while on the Tube or plane or wherever."

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Stuart Henderson, Online News Editor

"I spend my time playing assorted games – Scrabble being the current favourite – intertwined with a low-level guilt that I should actually be spending my time more productively. Like reading or something."

Courtesy of EA

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Ian Burrell: Media Editor

"News in Slow Spanish; it’s the week’s international news read out in Spanish, slowly, so you get to gen up on what’s happening and learn some vocabulary at about the same pace you will probably be travelling http://www.newsinslowspanish.com/"

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

James Vincent: Science and Technology correspondent

"My favourite is Radiolab. Two American guys (Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich) tell a story about something. Anything. Usually with a sciencey edge, but always revealing about some unexplored aspect of life. Abumrad even got one of those MacArthur genius grants for his work…"

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Joe Krishnan: Apprentice

I have a three-hour round trip each day so have to do something to keep me occupied. Here’s what I do. - Sleep: Unsurprisingly, five minutes in sleep time can be an hour in real time, so the journey goes quite fast when I’ve nodded off. - Music: Make a playlist with around 10-15 songs that you like. It’s over before you even know it, 45 mins gone just like that. Best option if you’re standing. - Watch a film: Rather much like music, you become so absorbed in the film that you forget how much time is passing. - Reading a book/magazine: As long as you don’t suffer from travel sickness, reading is best time passer. - Make conversation with a stranger? A bit of small-talk never hurts anyone, does it?

Rex

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Katie Guest: Literary Editor of the Independent on Sunday

"Read a book! Penguin Shorts are good for commuting (digital short fiction, £1.99 each)"

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Chloe Hamilton: Editorial Assistant

Read the Independent!

Tube strikes: Ways to kill time on your commute

Joseph Charlton: Assistant Editor at Independent Voices

"I test myself on the order of stations on different lines. I can do the whole of Victoria and Circle (easy), Northern (High Barnet branch only). It’s quite a boring game, admittedly."

“While the approaching train was immediately put on a red signal, the quick thinking of him and other passengers on the platform avoided what could have been a tragedy.

“On behalf of everyone at British Transport Police, I'd like to commend this man for his brave actions – his quick thinking most likely saved the man's life.”

Police want to find the rescuer and recognise him for his courage.

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