A little boy with autism was saved from train tracks in New York on April 6 thanks to the quick thinking of transit employees.
While Locomotive Engineer William Kennedy operated a southbound Hudson Line train that afternoon, he noticed something unusual in a dangerous spot, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
The moment he realized it was a three-year-old on the northbound tracks near Tarrytown, Kennedy knew exactly what to do.
He used emergency communication to notify nearby train workers, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) press release:
Locomotive Engineer Shawn Loughran and an engineer trainee who were aboard northbound Train 737 approaching the scene proceeded at slow speed until the child was spotted on a track near — and then on top of — an electrified third rail. Once the train came to a stop, Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins jumped down to the track, ran 40 yards in front of the train, picked up the child and brought him onboard the train. The crew then traveled back to Tarrytown Station, where they were met by MTAPD officers and Tarrytown EMS.
The child’s mother called it a “miracle” that she got her child back safe and sound, adding that everything happened so fast once he wandered away, fell off a wall, then climbed over electrically charged rails, according to Good Morning America.
When Kennedy, whose train was going 70 miles per hour, saw him, “Instantly ‘Daddy’ kicked in and ‘We gotta save this kid,'” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Signal Maintainers Max Chong and Christopher Fraina were on their way to assist when they bumped into the mother and her sister, who were both crying.
Other officials were trying to find the same child the two women said was missing; therefore, everyone headed to the scene where the mother and son were reunited in an emotional moment:
The five employees were presented with commendations for their efforts. A photo shows several of them holding those awards:
Kennedy said, “Everybody’s quick thinking and the perfect timing allowed us to get this child off the tracks and back to his family.”