Video Shows Good Samaritan Help Rescue Woman Trapped Under Red Line Train
UPDATED: 5:01 p.m. May 4, 2016
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman was rescued from under a CTA Red Line around noon Wednesday, after ending up on the tracks at the Clark/Division subway station.
Police and CTA officials said it was not immediately clear how the woman ended up on the tracks, but the woman was not struck by a train. Sources said the woman told police she had been sitting on the platform and fell onto the tracks.
Another passenger was able to talk to the woman after she became trapped, and helped pull her up from between two cars of the train.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports Twitter video shows Good Samaritan Justin Schneider reaching his hand underneath the CTA Red line train to help a 19-year-old woman who was under it. Schneider kept telling the woman to remain calm.
"I just wanted to make sure that she was OK," he said. "My first thought was everybody's safety in the area. I just went into action and just did what I could to make sure she was OK and calm and still with it. "
Schneider is a loss prevention expert and was on his way to work. He says he was a passenger on the train.
"I heard the conductor blowing his horn nonstop," he said. "The conductor opened the car and he was very upset. He was tearing up. He had stated we had a jumper at that point. I made sure he was O. I told him to sit in his chair and relax.
"He said to pull the emergency handle. I exited.
"I heard a woman's voice saying 'hello, hello' and I looked and I couldn't see anybody and then I saw her hand coming up from underneath and that's when I jumped into action."
Schneider says others were standing around watching as he went into action.
"I was shocked I meant at first everyone was just kind of standing around the platform just acting as if everything was normal and on their phones," he said. "We can't sit around. The city is in a situation where, as citizens we have to get back and do something. The police can't do it all by themselves."
The rescued woman was transported in good condition with non-life threatening injuries.
CTA officials said Red Line trains we rerouted to the 'L' tracks between Fullerton and Cermak/Chinatown while crews responded to the situation at Clark/Division. Normal service was restored by 12:45 p.m.
Schneider lost a good friend, Juan, who died from a seizure last week.
"I hope he's looking above….I hope to pay it forward," Schneider said.
