A Metro train operator was credited with saving a man’s life, stopping her train last month before it hit the man who had fallen onto the tracks.
Shandra Howard was bringing an Orange Line train into the East Falls Church station at 1:25 a.m. on Nov. 20 during weekend late-night service when she saw a man lying on the tracks ahead of her, according to Metro. She immediately hit the brakes.
The man, whose name was not released, had accidentally stumbled off the platform, according to the agency’s account of the incident. He cut his head but officials expect him to recover from his injuries.
Howard received a standing ovation at last week’s Metro board of directors meeting for her quick actions.
Others riders haven’t been as lucky as the man Howard saved. Accidental falls onto the tracks have killed at least three people on the system in the past two years. Joseph Doyle, a 28-year-old law school student, died after falling into the tracks at Minnesota Avenue on July 4.
A blind man, whose name was not released, fell from the Gallery Place platform on Dec. 27, 2009, later dying of his injuries. And on March 15, 2009, Kevin Deiss, 22, was killed when he was struck by a train at East Falls Church station after he fell onto the tracks. The death was ruled an accident.
