Footage released by a public rail company in Australia captured a rescue that is the literal definition of “last-second.”
Released by Transport for NXW, the security camera footage shows a man leaping to the aid of an injured pedestrian who had fallen on the train track, pulling him to safety moments before he would’ve been struck by an oncoming train.
The footage was taken at the Berala train station in Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, according to Transport for NXW.
“Imagine being in charge of 1,000 tons of steel travelling at 60 km/h … and you’re confronted with this.” The company said in a tweet accompanying the video.
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The near-collision was captured on multiple cameras as an elderly commuter with grey hair appears to lose his footing, taking a hard fall onto the tracks below. He’s then spotted by another commuter, who urgently attempts to pull him to safety.
Another camera, positioned on the front of an oncoming train, shows the reason for his urgency: the train is entering the station, just metres from the man at the time of his fall.
Incredibly, the bystander is able to pull the man to safety right as the train arrives in the station, missing him by inches.
A spokesperson for the rail company told 9 News in Australia that the train operator pulled the emergency brake, but a passenger train of this size requires a full kilometre to come to a stop. In this case, the train was already reducing speed as it entered the station.
“There’s nothing you can do about it, you can’t steer away like a car – you’re doing all you can,” Howard Collins with Sydney Trains told 9 News.
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Authorities confirm the man was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and can be seen swaying on the platform before tumbling onto the tracks.
“The poor driver. To see what they have to go through, as some drunk falls onto the tracks – it’s just horrific in every sense,” NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.
Nobody was seriously injured in the incident.