Élise Boutin-Michaud’s efforts to locate the man who rescued an old man who fell onto the Montreal subway tracks on Wednesday morning have finally borne fruit. The “subway hero” has finally been found.
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This is Claudio Johnson Brambilla, a Longueuil garbage collector who works in Montreal.
The story happened around 7 a.m. Tuesday at Berri-UQAM station on the green line. While Élise Boutin-Michaud was waiting for the subway to come to work, an elderly man fell onto the electrified tracks.
Claudio Johnson Brambilla was also waiting for the subway on the opposite platform towards Honoré-Beaugrand station. He then jumped to the old man’s rescue “without hesitation” before the next train pulled into the station, the Facebook post said.
Along with 24 hours, Élise Boutin-Michaud assures that “everything happened so quickly”. Immediately the young man was on the railing to take the old man onto his shoulders before setting him down against a wall and sitting down a little further.
“He went on with his day like he hadn’t done anything special,” she admits, laughing. I yelled his name at him but he didn’t answer me. I was like, “Come on, he deserves a medal for bravery!”
She says a similar story has already happened to her husband. He had rescued someone off the subway tracks and received the medal for bravery.
“I tell myself it’s no less heroic,” she insists.
Paid vacation as a gift?
Mr Johnson Brambilla’s employer, Les As Éboueurs, responded to Élise Boutin-Michaud’s appeal on social media, mentioning to her under her post that it was indeed her employee who had committed the heroic act.
IMAGE Screenshot
One user quickly suggested that the boss offer him a day of paid vacation as a thank you.
“It’s a good idea. I organized something for him this week,” the boss replied.
courage cheered
For its part, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) confirms that it was notified of the situation earlier on Tuesday and that the victim was treated by Urgences-santé.
Another user, who was on the platform, used one of the red phones made available to customers to contact the subway dispatcher.
“We want to recognize the courage and citizenship of this customer, but driving on the tracks while the subway is running is indeed very dangerous,” said STM spokesman Philippe Déry.
What to do in such a situation?
If you find yourself in a similar situation, the STM will remind you that you can activate a switch to instantly cut the current on the track.
PHOTO provided by Société de transport de Montréal (STM)
The crank is in one of the auxiliary niches located at each end of the platforms. The red telephones are also here.
A person can also call 911 and try to get the train operator’s attention when they arrive at the station to encourage them to brake, it said.