For two strangers waiting at a San Francisco BART station Thursday, a routine morning commute quickly turned into a life-saving effort after a man jumped onto the tracks. The pair parted ways after the incident, but later reconnected with the help of a Reddit post.
One of the many thoughts running through Josh Hyman’s mind that morning: “Like, he needs to get off the tracks.”
Hyman was waiting for a BART train at 24th and Mission streets when he noticed a man on the train tracks. Another commuter, Blake Garrett, saw the same man — who appeared to be having a mental episode — moments earlier.
“He was being pretty sporadic and unpredictable, talking to themselves” Garrett said. “Punching the air and a few other things.”
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But with a train fast approaching, both he and Hyman had to act quickly.
“We’re both looking at the guy,” Hyman said “And he runs over and is like, ‘give me your hand.' At the same time, I'm running over there, too. I say, 'give me your other hand.' And we kind-of just, like, had to readjust a little bit, and dragged him off the tracks.”
They were able to save the man’s life. He was emotional, but eventually hopped on another train.
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Garrett and Hyman also parted ways, getting on the next train to work. But on the BART ride, Hyman realized something.
“I feel like I need to connect with that guy I shared this crazy experience with,” he said.
So he decided to do his first-ever Reddit post, writing: “To the guy that helped me pull a guy off the tracks at the 24th st BART station just now. Glad you were there.”
Garrett found the post through a coworker and replied: “That was me!! Thank god you were there too.”
The pair, formerly strangers, have become friends. They actually live around the corner from each other, and plan to grab coffee over the weekend.
They’re both glad they were at the right place at the right time.
“It’s tough to know when it's the right time to do something and when it's not. Cause the last thing you ever want to do is put yourself in harm’s way,” Garrett said.
“I feel like a ton of people would’ve done the same exact thing as I did, given the circumstance,” Hyman said. “And it’s just good to know that Blake one of those people, too.
