This morning as I was walking to the train station my mind was running crazy as usual. I was thinking what if something happened to me? As a young female, walking my neighbourhood by myself, I tend to imagine up crazy scenarios. What if today was going to be different than every other day? And a different day it was!
As I approached the train station I heard a blood-curdling cry. Someone was screaming obscenities and I was just a little bit scared for my safety! As I came nearer, I saw a boy standing on the tracks. He couldn't have been any older than 15. He was looking down to the ground, frustrated, muttering under his breath. The platform I was standing on is above the tracks. And everyone knows they are not supposed to be on the tracks - there are special crossings - and to stand where he was, was out of the ordinary and dangerous.
I nervously asked him, "Are you okay?"
"Uhhh yeah..." he replied, "well, no actually not really..."
"The train is coming soon, you should get off the tracks", I said as panic took hold of me.
"I no longer want to live", he told me. He mentioned when they were upgrading the tracks in the last few months he had almost been hit by a train and now "they might as well finish me off".
The train was fast approaching.
"Please get off the tracks!" I pleaded! My legs were frozen and I didn't want to walk on down the platform until I knew he was safe! I didn't know what to say or do.
I could see the Train Driver and I was trying to indicate for him to stop and look him in the eye to warn him. As the train came to a halt he shouted out, "Don't stop! Finish me, come closer!" He had his arms up wanting to be hit by the train. The train stopped where it usually does to set down and pick up passengers but he still wasn't budging from the tracks. "Please come up," I said once again (talking about the platform), "come on". He looked hesitant but the fact that I was there and had shown I cared, he stepped to the side away from the train and stepped up onto the platform. I now decided it was okay to keep walking to my train, keeping a watchful eye on him. He walked over to the Train Driver's window and started shouting at the Driver about wanting to die and for him to finish him and run him over. I got on the train my heart pounding!
The train was only stopped for a short time with the boy talking to the Driver and eventually we took off. I wasn't sure if the Driver even heard the boy through the window and if he just thought he was crazy and kept going without doing anything. I knew I had to call the police to report it because he was serious about committing suicide and was so distressed in the way he was shouting. For a moment I battled with it whether it was the right thing to do now he was off the tracks, but I concluded it was. Since I was a kid it has been drilled into me to only call the Police in an absolute emergency. I have never dialled triple zero (000) - the emergency number in Australia, in my life; but today was to be a first. I wasn't sure if the Driver even knew he wanted to kill himself. He might have assumed I knew him and he was just being silly and I was talking and waiting for him to get on the train with me. But I didn't know the boy.
I pulled out my phone and dialled 000. My heart was pounding. I told them who I was, where I was and what happened. I got transferred to the Police and they asked me to describe the boy. In my panicked state I couldn't even tell them what he was wearing. The woman across from me saw the boy and she was able to tell me what he was wearing which I narrated to the Police. I asked them to send someone down to check on him because I had no idea if he would come back to the tracks and try again. The Police said, "yes, definitely." As I got off the phone with them, I talked to the woman across from me. She said that I did the right thing and asked me if I was okay. I was visibly shaken up and I couldn't concentrate the whole journey to the City. I asked the woman if I did the right thing getting on the train and if I should have waited with him? She said I had no idea of knowing whether he was violent or not and that I did the best thing by calling the Police and getting on the train. I said I was heaps worried about him and she said he would definitely come back once the current train was gone and try again - which was exactly my thought. She said she wished there was more people like me in the world that cared enough to make a difference. I could have done nothing, but I talked to the boy and called the Police to make sure he would be alright. She also asked me if I had someone to talk to when I got home - that I might need to get some support and that I should call the local Police Station when I got home to follow it up.
When the train got to the City, I made sure I talked to the Train Driver and told him I didn't know the boy but he had told me that he wanted to kill himself. I said he may want to report it to the relevant people. He said he already had. He said he thought the boy was just attention seeking and if he really wanted to kill himself he could have run across the tracks at a crucial point rather than stand where he did, in a place where the train slows down and stops to get passengers. But he said it was hard to know for sure and that the Police were out looking for him. I felt a little offended at the Driver's coldness; my heart swelling with worry for the boy over the situation. But at least I knew the Driver had also made a report and contacted the relevant people.
I prayed for the boy that he was safe and when I got home I called my local Station to find out if they found him. They let me know that they found him not far from the station and that he was safe with family now; working things out. They said they were able to find him with my information combined with the other information from the Driver. They thanked me for what I did - and for talking to him; saying I did a good thing. I'm so glad he is okay now. I could have done nothing and just kept walking to my train once I saw he was out of immediate danger - but what if he had tried again? What if by the Police coming to find him - they were able to counsel him and help him talk things through which led to him knowing someone cares so he will no longer give up on life? The Police said I definitely did the right thing and commended me.
It's so tragic someone so young can feel the way he did. But I feel like God had me there for a purpose. Maybe I helped save a life from being lost. We live in such a hurting world but I am thankful by my actions I can make a difference.
SENT IN FROM A FREN IN AUSTRALIA.
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