BART Worker Saves Man From Oncoming Train

A Bay Area Rapid Transit employee was hailed a hero after saving a man from being hit by an oncoming train last Sunday, Nov. 3.

At approximately 5:20 p.m., BART Transport Supervisor John O’ Connor was doing crowd control at the Coliseum Station following an Oakland Raider’s game when he saw a man fall on the southbound tracks and right along the path of an approaching train.

“I was standing on the yellow strip, telling people to stay back, looking toward Lake Merritt when, in my peripheral vision, I saw him fall, almost like he missed a step going up a stairway, and he ended up in the trackway,” O’Connor said.

According to O’Connor, the train, which was running at 36 mph, was 60 feet away when he pulled the man from the tracks and back onto the platform.

“I thought the train was going to cut him in half, honestly,” he said. “I didn’t want to see this guy die.”

According to the San Francisco CBS, BART officials said that the unnamed man was intoxicated and was taken for medical evaluation.

BART released the surveillance camera video that captured the incident last Monday, Nov. 4.

Passenger Tony Badilla was waiting for his train when he witnessed the incident and tweeted a video of the aftermath.

BART Deputy General Manager Michael Joes introduced O’Connor at a press conference on Monday where he mentioned that he had been a train operator for 20 years and had seen several disturbing incidents along the tracks.

“I’ve had people fall in front of my train or jump to get their hat or a lot of different scenarios. I mean, there’s a multitude of stories we can tell about it,” he said.

O’Connor said that he feels uncomfortable with being called a hero because he said he was just doing his job.

“It’s what we’re supposed to do, ” he said. “I just did what I did. I just thank God I was there.”