Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Video Caption:

Boston August 14, 2008 - Two metal workers are being credited with saving a man who recently fell onto the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority tracks at North Station.

Surveillance video shows a man who appears to be under the influence staggering along the Orange Line platform at North Station before tumbling onto the tracks.

Robert Johnson and AJ Pugliese were on the opposite track More..doing sheet metal work. They sprang into action.

“A woman from the other side of the tracks was yelling that a man fell onto the track, the pit. I really wasn’t thinking much. I was thinking that we had to get him out before the train comes,” Pugliese said.

Johnson called 911 before rushing to help.

“I thought he was trying to commit suicide. So, once I knew he had fallen and was knocked out, I jumped down to help AJ get him out,” Johnson said.

The workers said they didn’t have time think about their own safety, despite the fact they had to cross over two live third rails with 600 volts of electricity.

“I was aware of the third rail, and I think your adrenaline is going and you’re really not thinking about much, you just react,” said Pugliese.

“I knew we had to get him out before a train came. That was the most important thing at that time,” said Johnson.

The MBTA stopped approaching trains, but the power to the third rails was not shut off.

“His arm was pretty close to the rail. He was a little short of the third rail, maybe about a foot,” Pugliese said.

The man who fell was not badly injured, the MBTA said. His name has not been released. He was treated at a hospital and released, the MBTA said.