Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they’re blue collared, city employees. Two locomotive operators in New York's Westchester County have been given the title of hero after preventing a young boy from wandering onto a set of train tracks. The team effort was caught on Metropolitan Transportation Authority surveillance video, and all we can say is … thank goodness they jumped into action.
It all began when Marcus Higgins, an assistant conductor for the MTA, saw a young boy dangerously close to the Metro-North Railroad tracks near Tarrytown, New York, and went into dad mode.
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Locomotive engineer William Kennedy went into dad mode when he saw the toddler in danger.
Kennedy, a locomotive engineer, was the first to spot the child, according to WABC. The boy had strayed onto the rail track and was moving toward the electrified third rail.
"I got four kids so as soon as I saw it was a child, instantly 'daddy' kicked in and [I thought], 'We gotta save this kid,'" Kennedy said. The train Kennedy was on was moving at 70 miles per hour.
The child is autistic and nonverbal.
Kennedy slammed on the brakes before radioing his team members. Higgins, who was headed in the opposite direction on his train, also stopped to see how he could help. He stopped his train and ran along the tracks to the child. Waylon, 3, reportedly is on the autism spectrum and is nonverbal.
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The boy was climbing on top of electric rails.
Waylon was moving between the rails, climbing on top of them. "I'm screaming and trying to wave in this direction, like, go the other way. But, you don't know how young he was," Higgins said.
Aridia Bruno DeSosa, Waylon's mother, said her separation from her son happened “so fast.” He tumbled over a wall and climbed over electrically charged rails.
'That was a miracle from God,' Waylon's mother said.
Bruno DeSosa said the fact that Higgins and Kennedy saw her son and rescued him was incredible.
“That was a miracle from God,” she said in Spanish. After Higgins made his way to Waylon on the tracks, he was able to get him onto a stopped train. Waylon and his mother were eventually reunited. They had been separated for an hour.
The boy left the whole incident with just a splinter.
Bruno DeSosa was naturally grateful and said she is unable to repay the men for saving her son’s life. Higgins is also thankful. “God forbid, you know, this could have gone in a totally different direction,” he said.
Waylon was uninjured and only had a splinter in his hand to mark his great adventure. He’s now safe at home.
