Transit police in Philadelphia are calling a local man a hero for jumping on to subway tracks to help a man who fell off the platform.
Christopher Knafelc, 32, was yesterday afternoon waiting for a train in north Philadelphia when he saw a man walk off the platform and fall on the tracks. He jumped down to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes.
I had a plan if a train came I was going to roll him underneath,” Knafelc told WPVI-TV, “or if I couldn’t, I was
going to ask someone to jump down and help me roll him.” He held the man’s head and neck stable until firefighters arrived. Train traffic was halted.
I was like 99.9 per cent positive that I wouldn’t get electrocuted,” Knafelc told the Philadelphia Daily News. “I
can’t see (the tracks) being able to electrocute you, because too many people would get hurt.”
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III called Knafelc a hero.
This is what Philadelphia is all about,” Nestel said. Investigators don’t know what caused the man to fall on the
tracks. He was taken to a hospital and said to be in stable condition.
He didn’t thank me, but I know he was thankful,” Knafelc told the Daily News. “You know what I mean? In my heart I believe he was.”
——————————(AP)