Man falls under train - and lives!

[boing_uk]

Lancashire Telegraph

I'm sure the rest of you can nit pick out the details in the article

Accrington man falls under train - and lives

A MAN had an amazing escape after being run over by a train in front of horrified commuters.
Police said the 55-year-old fell onto the lines as he fought with two teenagers on the platform.
But, in an escape described as miraculous, he ended up between the lines and managed to avoid the wheels.
When he fell, bystanders, including an off-duty nurse, tried to get the man off the tracks.
But to their sheer terror a train then approached Church and Oswaldtwistle Station.
They waved at the driver, but the TransPennine Express could not stop in time and passed over the man.
Eye witness Margaret Walton said: “I thought 'Oh my God’.
"It was like all my worst nightmares at once. I thought he was going to die.
“One of the lads went to look down. I asked him if he was still alive and if he was still in one piece and he said ‘yes’.”
Miraculously the man, who is from Accrington, had only sustained head injuries that required stitches and a bruised hip and foot.
He was due to be discharged from the Royal Blackburn Hospital last night.
Police believe he had managed to position his body on the sleepers between the two railway lines, and avoid impact.
Glyn Hellam, of British Transport Police, said: “It is remarkable that the man didn’t receive more serious injuries.
“It appears that a combination of good fortune and the prompt actions of the train driver prevented a serious incident from becoming a fatal one.”
Miss Walton lives in a house which backs onto the railway station and went to see what was going on after hearing shouting at 5pm on Monday.
The 54-year-old psychiatric nurse, who works for Nelson Crisis Team, said: “I could tell they were distressed and heard one lad shout 'ring 999'.
“I heard one say 'somebody is on the track'.
“But the other said 'but he came at me, what was I supposed to do? I pushed him and he fell on the track'.”
The nurse said she went up to the station and found three 14-18 year-old boys.
She said: “Two of them were crying. The oldest one was on the phone to emergency services telling them what had happened.
“We were trying to get the man to get up but he was disorientated and confused.
“He was bleeding a lot from the back of his head, then the train came.”
After the train passed over the man, Miss Walton described what she did next: “I got on the track and got down to the bloke to try and keep him still because he was trying to get up.
“I knew to keep him still because I am a nurse.
“I told him 'somebody up there is looking after you because you are still alive and in one piece'. Then the paramedics came."
Mr Hellam, of British Transport Police (BTP), said it was not clear whether the man had fallen because he had been pushed, punched or lost his balance.
A 17-year-old boy was quizzed by police on suspicion of assault following the incident but was released on bail.
He said: “Three men were involved in an altercation at Church and Oswaldtwistle station.
“As a result of that, one of the men ended up on the tracks and was struck by a train.
“Detectives are reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
“The driver saw an object on the tracks.
"He put his brakes on to slow down as he approached the station.”
Mr Hellam said the man suffered head injuries and needed stitches.
He was also left with minor injuries to the hip and foot.
Police initially said he had suffered serious injuries, but he was due to be discharged last night.
The train involved was the 3.09pm York to Blackpool North Service.
The incident disrupted trains in East Lancashire for more than an hour, with services through Church and Oswaldtwistle stopped for three hours.
Rail passenger Anne Smith was travelling from Blackburn to Hebden Bridge.
Her train was stopped at Blackburn at 5.05pm and passengers awaited news for an hour and 40 minutes.
She said: "The guard told us straight away that someone had been injured on the line and that he had very serious head injuries.
"People were quite shocked and dismayed. There were also a lot of people very concerned about their journey.”
Staff at the Dawn Bibby card shop opposite the station said the incident reminded them of a death of a man on the track last year.
One shop worker said: “He is lucky to be alive."

 

[Ticket Man]

glad they got the scoop from the Dawn Bibby Card Shop

 

[Eng274]

good to see they have a picture of a typical Transpennine express train!

 

[ainsworth74]

good to see they have a picture of a typical Transpennine express train!

Well a couple of years ago that would have been a typical TPE train

But back the matter at hand, if I was that guy I would be buying a lottery ticket for this weekend, seriously lucky...

 

[Flamingo]

Well a couple of years ago that would have been a typical TPE train

But back the matter at hand, if I was that guy I would be buying a lottery ticket for this weekend, seriously lucky...

Naw, he'll probably get struck by lightening on the way to collect it.

 

[Oswyntail]

good to see they have a picture of a typical Transpennine express train!

The mistake is calling it Transpennine rather than trans-pennine. 158s are used on the York Blackpool service that passes through Church without stopping. Plaudits to the paper for using a relevant photo!

 

[mumrar]

Deary me, do they teach these journalists English and/or have editors proof read? "The driver put his breaks on". I suppose it's all he 'could of' done (that's my other pet hate in English.)

 

[Eng274]

I can just picture the scene - man falls onto track, driver yanks his flask and 4 finger kitkat out at lightning speed..

 

[ainsworth74]

Naw, he'll probably get struck by lightening on the way to collect it.

That would be a cruel twist of fate

 

[OuterDistant]

Deary me, do they teach these journalists English and/or have editors proof read? "The driver put his breaks on". I suppose it's all he 'could of' done (that's my other pet hate in English.)

Maybe they've employed journalists from 1862? It would be correct, then!

 

[pendolino]

Deary me, do they teach these journalists English and/or have editors proof read? "The driver put his breaks on". I suppose it's all he 'could of' done (that's my other pet hate in English.)

I can just picture the scene - man falls onto track, driver yanks his flask and 4 finger kitkat out at lightning speed..

I was imagining him getting out some old hip hop and rapping over the PA.

'Yo, we stopped cos there's a dude lyin' under the train
Man was pushed, he didn't jump, he's not insane in the membrane
Homies, we be goin' nowhere, there will be a delay
Brother don't diss me, we movin' soon, uh hey hey hey'

 

[northwichcat]

good to see they have a picture of a typical Transpennine express train!

To be fair it is a Blackpool-York service which is more of a trans-pennine route than some of the ones in the TPE franchise.

Looks like they've changed the story since the original post. It is now a Northern Rail driver who couldn't stop in time.

 

[ReverendFozz]

That would be a cruel twist of fate

It certainly would be a cruel twist of fate, if this guy had 9 lives before, he certainly 8 of them that day, if it happened to me, I wouldn't go anywhere a Lottery Machine or Bookies, I wouldn't want all the luck in the world, as I am the kind of person who would be struck by lightning!!!!!

I'd love to know how he survived this, could he have laid himself flat on the sleepers between the 2 rails with the train passing over with a bit clearance between himself and the underside of the train