Like something you would see in a television show or movie cliffhanger, a woman feared for her life as she was stuck in the path of an oncoming train. Luckily for her, two teenagers happened to be driving past at just the right time to stop and pull her to safety.
Colton Essary, 16, and Maddie Hand, 17, were driving back to Frankfort Community High School in Illinois after lunch when they noticed a woman had fallen onto the nearby train tracks. She was screaming for help and an oncoming train was quickly approaching.
The unnamed elderly woman had been crossing the tracks when she had tripped on them, breaking her wrist as she landed so she was unable to get back up.
“We just happened to take the back way back to school and happened to be there,” Colton said.
Maddie, the passenger in the car, pointed out the woman's situation to Colton. But Maddie was so scared that the train was going to pass at any moment that all she could do was tightly close her eyes and pray that everything would be alright.
Colton quickly parked in the middle of the road and raced out of the car in the hope of reaching the woman before the train - travelling at 50mph (80.5kph) - did.
And they made it - just in time!
“It wasn’t really something you had time to think about,” Colton said of his actions. “I had an obligation to help." He added that if he hadn't have made it to the woman soon enough, or had just let it happen right in front of him without doing anything to stop it, then he wouldn't have been able to live with himself.
Speaking to the grateful woman later, Colton found out that she had seven grandchildren and was so happy to be returning to them with only a broken arm.
Colton described the whole affair as simply a traumatic event and that he was thankful that it had turned out okay.
Principal Bethany Shaw, of the teens’ school, said that the pair’s lateness after lunch was struck off the record because of their good deed.
“I am glad they were aware of what was going on and able to help her when she needed it,” the principal said. “Maddie and Colton are shining examples to our student body.”
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