Posted on 12/17/2013 3:28:20 PM PST by nickcarraway
A blind man and his guide dog tumbled onto the track at a Harlem subway station on Tuesday and narrowly escaped being crushed by an express train, witnesses and officials said.
The man, whom the authorities identified as Cecil Williams, 60, of Brooklyn, maneuvered himself into the trench between the rails, and the approaching train passed over him and his dog, Orlando. Mr. Williams suffered several cuts but was expected to recover, and Orlando, an 11-year-old black Labrador, did not appear seriously injured, officials and witnesses said.
Mr. Williams was on the northbound side of the 125th Street station at St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem around 9:30 a.m. when he fell, the authorities said. It was not immediately clear how he fell. The police said that it did not appear he had been pushed, and that no criminality was suspected.
“I heard a man say, ‘Oh, no,’ and I saw a man and his dog fall on the train tracks,” said Danya Gutierrez, 19, a student. She said other witnesses told her that Mr. Williams appeared dizzy and was wobbly immediately before he fell.
She said it appeared as though Mr. Williams dragged Orlando down with him when he fell. After moments of confusion, a representative from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority arrived and told Mr. Williams, who was sitting upright in the track bed, to remain still, Ms. Gutierrez said. That is when bystanders heard a train approaching.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good Dog.
Guide Dog received same training as Deaf translator at Mandela’s funeral.
Funded under Obamacare.....
Incredible. Thank God they both turned out ok. Must have been a horrific experience for the poor blind guy. Like life wasn’t tough enough for him as it is.
I was on the BART platform one day, and there was a blind man, walking with a white cane. I thought to myself how remarkable it was that the man was so confident about where the edge of the platform was. So I let him navigate for himself, right up until the moment he fell onto the tracks.
Thankfully, somebody on the platform acted immediately, and jumped down and threw the man back up onto the platform before a train pulled into the station.
Back up on the platform, the man was angry that nobody had warned him that he was getting close to the edge. My reluctance to get involved had resulted in the man getting injured in a fall, and potentially much worse. It is tricky to know when it is a good time to take somebody’s elbow and direct him away from danger, but I am much more ready to do so now.
That happened in DC once and the guy was killed.
I never saw such a guilty looking dog walking around.
You didn’t necessarily even have to take him by the arm. You could have just walked up to him and said in a nice way that he’s getting close to the tracks. That is, unless he was really close and in imminent danger.
Out here in the San Francisco area, the is a very popular, very famous Reverend Cecil Williams, former pastor of the Glide Memorial Church, which serves the community in many ways. Everybody loves him, all the politicians wanted their pictures taken with him while he was pastor. Even though ‘I’m Catholic, I’ve always wished to go there, and hear the choir on either Easter or Xmas, but it’s way, way too crowded in that area of town. Every other street is a one way street. The Meter Maids do love sowing the seeds of parking tickets around the clock. I hope and I doubt if this is the same Cecil Williams in the story.
Not so good dog. It needs to be retrained.
The one photo I found with a square trench had a suicide victim lying down in it so I don't want to post that.
That trench is clearly enough room for a man and dog to lie prone for the whole train to pass over but sitting up, lucky only a couple cars passed over him.
Glad the man and dog made it out of that alive.
An 11-year-old lab is an OLD dog. Should have been retired already. It may not have been able to keep the man from tumbling physically. Probably arthritic, poor old dog. I’m just glad that the man and his dog were not injured or killed.
Yeah, I know...
The dog never should have let him get close to the edge. Have you ever seen guide dogs for the blind work?
I’ve been in similar positions myself. Sometimes a blind or otherwise disabled person will get offended if you offer to help them. Doesn’t happen very much, but it happens. In any case, I’ll always make the effort, in an respectful way as I can.
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