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| Romola |
on Sun 27 Feb 11, 11:37 PM to Romola's blog.
Someone threw themselves in front of my train on Friday night. There was a bump that made me start and then a horrible trundle where the train was obviously going over something large and I thought the train was going to derail. I told myself it was probably a sheep. I knew it wasn't a sheep.
The driver was an absolute hero. He drove on a little after. I don't know if that was because he needed to be clear of bits of person or if it takes that long to stop once the brakes are on. After stopping a little while, he came down the train carriage by carriage, explaining that someone had been run over and that there would be a delay. There was substantial damage to the front of the train and it couldn't possibly complete it's journey. Police had to come, then the coroner had to come, and the bits of person had to be cleared for examination and all that before any trains could come down that bit of track. Once that was done, he had to go back to the last station stop to transfer us to another train. It took ages. I didn't realise at the time, but he had to go at only 5mph after an accident. We were delayed about 4 hours altogether, but God knows what time the poor driver got home, with giving reports, statements and all the rest of it. Despite that prospect, he was there as we transferred to the 2nd train, making sure everyone was ok, when he had absolutely every right to be traumatised and collapsed to jelly. I would like to thank that train driver and the rest of the crew for the way they dealt with a horrible incident.
| 27 Feb 11, 11:56 PM MissKimberley NL, 8 yrs    |
I have always considered it incredibly selfish to commit suicide that way, involving innocent bystanders who will be traumatised for life. I hope the driver and anyone who witnessed the bits of person left will come through without major problems.
Every day, life is full of anonymous heroes “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” - George Orwell |
| 28 Feb 11, 11:12 AM tupnick 6 yrs |
Thanks for your kind thoughts towards the Driver ... as a retired Train Driver I can confirm that suicide is traumatic ... very often the comment is that the man/woman was killed by the train and that to an extent places the burden of that death on the Driver ... he/she didn't kill anyone ... it was the dead person's actions alone ... some of my colleague's survived more than their fair share of suicide's but for me to have stared into a man's eyes and seen that look that said everything is not somewhere I could go again ... after my early retirement I was probably saved from suicide by the knowledge that the only easy way I knew would cause far too much stress to an innocent Train Driver. The happiest subbie in the North Edited 28 Feb 11, 11:14 AM by tupnick |
