A Chicago man is being heralded as a hero after saving a man from being electrocuted after he fell into subway tracks and landing on the third rail. The real-life Superman, who secured the victim and risked being harmed himself, administered CPR in an effort to resuscitate him after the horrific accident.
On Wednesday, June 8, Anthony Perry was celebrated by community leaders for his heroism at the 69th Street Red Line CTA Station in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on Sunday, June 5, around 3:30 p.m.
Chicago philanthropist and entrepreneur Early Walker, founder of the “I’m Telling, Don’t Shoot” organization, surprised the young man with a car for risking his life for someone else.
Walker presented the hero with a gas card at the ceremony.
The Harold L. Richards High School graduate was clueless why he would need a gas card. At the time, he did not have a vehicle to drive. The philanthropist then surprised Perry with a new car.
Perry, who previously spent 90 minutes after taking two buses and a train to work every day, now could drive in style with a 2008 Audi A6.
The young man also couldn’t believe what happened on one of his last hour and a half commutes to work.
According to authorities, there was a fight between the 32-year-old victim and another man that went horribly wrong that sparked Perry’s heroism.
Fox Chicago reported the man who fell was approached and spat on by another man. That led to a fight that landed both men on the tracks. Bystanders watched in awe as a CTA train stopped inches away from the two.
During the fight, the victim, who wore a white shirt, got trapped on a third rail.
A video of the incident, showing the man’s body pulsating as 600 volts of electrical charges races through his body, was captured and posted to Facebook.
Perry, who had just come off the train, noticed the man’s fall. He instantly leaped into action and jumped to the tracks, carefully stepping over the third rail in an effort not to harm himself.
“I don’t think I was thinking about what could happen to me at the moment,” he said in an interview with WGN-TV. “It was more of what do I have to do to make the situation peaceful. I felt a little shock. I felt it all over my body, and then I just didn’t let that stop me.”
“When I looked back on the video and I listen, it sounded like everyone was in fear … no one actually did anything, they just wanted to record,” he also said.
After Perry got him away from the rail, he and another witness administered CPR to help revive the man.
“She was talking me through on what to do. I feel like that was an angel from God. I ended up doing chest compressions and turning him on his side until the fire department got there,” Perry shared.
The entire incident was captured by a bystander who told a local news channel, “It was surreal. That was an out-of-body experience” just to watch it happen.
Perry also saw the fight, and said, “I immediately noticed there was a fight because both guys got their dukes up – they were like putting their stuff down.”
“I could’ve kept walking, but I was like, you know what? I’m not going to keep walking – because God wouldn’t want me to do that, so I took action immediately,” the hero shared.
“I was thinking about, if that was me in that situation, how would I want people to treat me? I’m just happy that the guy was alive, more than anything. I didn’t see myself as a hero, to be honest.”
While both men, according to CTA, came in contact with the third rail, only the victim was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital and said not to have been seriously injured. Doctors noted the man had a burn to his left leg and abrasions to the mouth.
The suspect who attacked the man was injured also but has not been apprehended by Chicago police.
Walker, who presented Perry with the car said,” Anthony thought of the victim and not necessarily himself in this quick decision to save the victim’s life. He then took careful instructions to perform CPR and saved a person’s life who laid hopelessly on a live track.”
He also declared, “We need more Anthonys in the world. We need more people like this.”
His remarks were supported by Chicago Police Department Lt. Yolanda Irving, who said, “This is just a prime example of how a young man took it upon himself to jump in and do the right thing.”
The community celebrated Perry for being a good Samaritan, but CTA still issued a statement about proper protocol when someone falls on the track.
“If CTA personnel sees someone on the tracks, or is notified by a customer, CTA employees immediately inform our Control Center to remove power to the third rail. Any customer witnessing a person on the tracks should also notify CTA personnel immediately, or call 911. They should never try to enter the right of way, or try to remove the person themselves, as they risk electrocution.”
