A railway pointsman in Vangani station saved the life of a child who accidentally fell on the tracks with seconds to spare.
In a tweet shared by the Indian Ministry of Railways, a clip captured from CCTV footage shows Mayur Shelke, the hero of the day, using his presence of mind and quick reflexes to pull a 6 year-old child onto the platform and out of harm’s way.
The Incident
The incident took place on April 17 at Platform 2 of Vangani railway station which is 90 km away from Mumbai.
A boy and his mother were walking on the edge of the platform.
What had happened was that the little boy had let go of his mother’s hand and then slipped and fallen from the platform down to the tracks.
He tried to climb back up but was struggling.
Fortunately for the kid, Shelke was nearby and had spotted his struggle.
He quickly jumped into action and ran on the tracks towards the boy.
He lifted the boy up onto the platform and then himself.
He had saved the child just in time as an oncoming train was a mere few feet away.
The Hero’s Reaction And Subsequent Response
In a statement the braveheart said that concern for his own life was not in priority at that moment.
His main focus was to save the child’s life. His mother was helpless to do anything since she suffers from visual impairments.
After the ordeal was over, another widely circulated clip shows the man being felicitated by standing ovation from railway staff at Central Railway and the mother of the boy.Â
Piyush Goyal Extends Commendations
This feat attracted the attention of Union minister Piyush Goyal who tweeted his praise and gratitude to Shelke.
He said that he was very proud of the railwayman for his exceptional and courageous act wherein he risked his own life to save another’s.
He said that no monetary reward or prize could come close to being in proportion to the magnitude of the act, but the man will be rewarded in some capacity for his humanitarian deed nevertheless.
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