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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Unemployed Man Misses Job Interview to Save Baby on Tracks

An unemployed New York man came to the rescue of a 9-month-old baby who was almost hit by an oncoming subway train, costing him a job interview.
Delroy Simmonds was on his way to apply for a maintenance position at a warehouse when a baby in a carriage was blown onto the tracks at the Van Siclen Ave. station Brooklyn, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The tracks at Van Siclen are elevated several stories above street level.
Simmonds jumped onto the tracks, grabbed the bleeding little boy and pulled him in his stroller to safety.
“I jumped down and I snatched the baby up,” Simmonds told Daily News. “The train was coming around the corner as I lifted the baby from the tracks. I really wasn’t thinking.”
Nevertheless, the Brooklyn father of two told said he’s no superhero, that any man would have done the same.
“Everybody is making me out to be some sort of superhero,” Simmonds said. “I’m just a normal person. Anybody in that situation should have done what I did.”
Simmonds told the newspaper strong gusts of wind were blowing 30-50 miles per hour, and a woman with four kids was standing on the platform. The wind blew the stroller onto the tracks.
Charles Seaton, spokesman for the MTA, says winds on Monday posed a threat for all passengers. Officials are now warning everyone to stand further away from tracks.
“We tell all people to stay well back from the tracks, and that would include with their baby strollers and carriages,” Seaton said. “That includes above ground and below ground stations, regardless of the weather.”
Seaton says as of now the MTA isn’t doing anything for Simmonds and his bravery.
“He’s a hero. What he did was an extremely heroic thing,” Seaton said.
One woman who was also waiting for the J train, 21-year-old Khalima Ansari, recalls the incident.
“The baby had a big gash on his forehead. You could see his skull,” Ansari told Daily News.
She says she called 911 immediately after Simmond’s heroic actions.
The baby was taken to Brookdale University Hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Simmonds didn’t wait around after the rescue. He says he would have done the same thing in any other circumstance.
“It was the fatherly instinct. I have two daughters of my own — 8 and 5. I was being a father. I would have done it for any baby,” Simmonds said.
Now, the father hopes to find employment.
“What I really need is a job,” he said.

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