You Go, Grrl: Charice Lewis

A young woman going home after a party at which she'd had too much to drink fell onto the train track while waiting for a train at a station on the MBTA [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority] Orange Line. As the train barreled down on her, passengers on the platform tried desperately to warn the driver, Charice Lewis, and with some quick thinking to put it together, some help from her co-worker Jacqueline Osorio, and lightning reflexes, Lewis managed to stop the train with literally inches to spare, saving the woman's life.

Lewis was on Anderson Cooper's 360 last night to talk about the episode, and she is just absolutely lovely; I was struck (and moved) by how totally understanding and nonjudgmental she is toward the young woman, how genuinely happy and relieved it all turned out okay. None of the (pointless) recriminations typical in such situations for what might have happened. I just wanted to give her a great big hug for general awesomeness.


[Transcript below.]
This is not in the clip, but I saw this segment on 360 last night, and Anderson Cooper actually ended this exchange by adding jauntily, "Well, note to self!"

Anderson Cooper: An incredible story out of Boston to show you and to tell you about. It's what happened after a woman fell onto the tracks in front of an approaching subway train. We're making it our "Shot" tonight. Um, this is from Friday. The woman you see was apparently drunk. She staggers to the side of the platform—

Erica Hill: Whoa.

Cooper: —stumbles onto the tracks, and commuters frantically tried to get the attention of the driver on the train; the driver was able to stop in time within a few inches of the woman—unbelievable, simply. The woman who fell was treated for some minor cuts. She is, uh, lucky to be alive. You see the train approaching; stops just right before her.

Hill: And then you see her get up.

Cooper: Erica, you actually spoke—yeah, you spoke to the train driver earlier tonight, right?

Hill: I did. Her name is Charice Lewis. She's being hailed as a hero—though she doesn't necessarily see herself that way—but rightfully so, really. Here's what she told me about that incident.

[Video of interview begins.]

Hill: So Charice, you'd actually gotten a call from a colleague warning you that things were a little busy at North Station. But when did you realize as you were pulling in that there was a woman on the tracks?

Charice Lewis: Right before the train got to her. Um, she moved—she moved just a little bit, just enough, and the people on the platform were pointing into the pit, like, pointing in, in, in. [mimics people pointing onto train tracks] And so I'm like, "Okay, something—something's got to be wrong." And once I saw her make a movement, I knew exactly, like, there's someone in the pit. Just stop the train. That was like the number one thing; just stop the train.

Hill: Right. And thankfully, that instinct, and that training, kicked in for you—and that's what you did—but were you confident that the train would stop in time?

Lewis: Yeah.

Hill: I mean, how long does it normally take to bring that train to a halt?

Lewis: They're old trains, but you throw it in brake, and with anything, you know, with that much weight, when you initially put it in brake, it may slide a little bit. But, you know, it, it stopped in time.

Hill: Thankfully.

Lewis: Yeah.

Hill: Thankfully for her. And you actually saw her get up, I understand. You saw her face. Did you two make eye contact at all?

Lewis: I believe she did. I was—she looked up at, she looked up at me, and all I could see was her smile.

Hill: Mm-hmm.

Lewis: She was just like smiling, and I'm like— [Hill laughs] okay. I'm like, you have all your arms, your legs, you're smiling. Okay. Thank god. You're all right. Now get up out the pit, please.

[They both laugh.]

Hill: Right?! And did you have to go—you have to go on with your shift. I'm sure for you it was a big relief, too. Um, what kept her from getting electrocuted? 'Cause it looks like she came dangerously close to that third rail.

Lewis: Well, she, she was grounded, um, in the middle in between the tracks. So, um, it's a good thing she didn't, you know, touch any metal—

Hill: Mm-hmm.

Lewis: —or anything like that. And, um, and she was actually able to move away from it rather quickly.

Hill: Yeah.

Lewis: So she didn't, she didn't get shocked.

Hill: And it's a—I'd say it's a good thing for her, too, that you were driving that train. Charice Lewis, great to you have with us tonight—and now you can, uh, go home and relax a little bit; I know it's been kind of a crazy media circus. So thanks again.

Lewis: [laughs] Yes. Thank you very much. And you have a good day.

[Video of interview ends.]

Cooper: How cool is she?

Hill: She was amazing. She was such a pleasure to talk to.

Cooper: She is great. Yes, she seems so nice and just, just exactly the kind of person you'd want in charge of—of any train you were on. And I love that the woman, the drunk woman just got up and like smiled.

Hill: She did. She just kind of smiled and, you know, you see that there are two men there who helped get her up. They haven't met, actually.

Cooper: Ohhh look, a train? Okay!

Hill: She did say afterwards, "Well, I was drunk." But apparently, when Charice first saw those two men waving at her frantically, trying to tell her there was a woman on the tracks, she was actually worried that those guys were going to jump. She wasn't sure what was going on. And then it sort of all came together for her.

Cooper: What time was this at? I'm trying to look at that time plate. Do you know?

Hill: I think it was 10—it's, like, 10 and change. I think I'd read that the woman—

Cooper: At night?

Hill: Yeah. She'd been at a party.

Cooper: Okay.

Hill: She had like four 22-ounce beers.

Cooper: Oy. All right.

Hill: And then, you know—

Cooper: Yeah, all right.

Hill: Dove on the tracks.

[This is not in the clip, but I saw this on 360 last night, and Anderson Cooper actually ended this exchange by adding jauntily, "Well, note to self!"]