A commuter who pulled an unconscious man off electrified train tracks is gifted a car in appreciation

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A commuter who pulled an unconscious man off electrified train tracks is gifted a car in appreciation
Chicago Red Line trainCragin Spring/WikiCommons
  • Anthony Perry was taking his daily commute through Chicago when he saw a man lying on the train tracks.
  • The 20-year-old pulled him to safety off of an electrified rail and performed CPR.
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A brave Chicago commuter who rescued a man who had fallen onto a live rail track at an L station has been rewarded for his courage with his own car, the Chicago Sun-Times report.

Anthony Perry, 20, told AP that the electric current flowing through the man's body from the tracks didn't stop him from saving the stranger lying unconscious, on Wednesday.

Videos of his heroic effort went viral on social media earlier this week It shows a man lying limply on the tracks and appearing to convulse as a result of the hundreds of volts of electric current shooting through his body. Perry jumped down from the platform and nimbly crossed the tracks in front of a train that had managed to stop a few feet away.

He said "I was hoping I could just grab him and not feel nothing, but I felt a little shock. I felt it all through my body actually. I didn't let that stop me."

Perry administered CPR to the person after he'd pulled them from the tracks, helped another commuter. The who was taken to hospital is expected to survive, reported AP.

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A commuter who pulled an unconscious man off electrified train tracks is gifted a car in appreciation
Chicago Red Line 69th street stationZol87/WikiCommons

To show their gratitude, Early Walker, founder of the anti-violence organization I'm Telling Don't Shoot, gifted him with a 2009 Audi A8 and a $25 fuel card.

Perry said the car will make his life "way easier." His journey to his job with Amazon Fresh in a Chicago suburb from his South Side home involved two buses and a train, AP reported.

"We need more Anthonys in the world," Walker said.

Also, there to thank Perry was the Chicago police department. District Commander Roderick Watson said "This is what we need more of. Police can't be everywhere at all times," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

"We have a citizen who actually took charge, jumped in, and should be recognized," said Watson.

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"So many times people think these young men are out here doing the wrong thing, but this is just a prime example of how a young man took it upon himself to jump in and do the right thing," said Chicago police Lt. Yolanda Irving, AP report.

Police are investigating what caused the unidentified person to be lying on the tracks.

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