Pulled the emergency stop cord on a train once when a child (still in train) was just about to become separated from their family (on platform) as the train started to pull away.
Had to shepherd two kids back to their parents after they got separated by the metro doors in New York. Only my second ever ride on the metro so immediately flummoxed by local and express lines – ‘don’t panic kids we’ll just get off at the next stop and go back’ we then rocket through three or four stations without stopping. Got off eventually and managed to call the parents and tell them to stay put then navigate our way back to them. Like i say, only my second trip on the metro – the family were from a farm in pensilvania somewhere and it was their first day in a city ever and their first ever trip on a train.
My own hero moment was working around a two story high scaffold staircase that was being de-rigged. There was some mis-communication and haste and the wrong clamps were released and suddenly the whole thing turned to jelly, everyone tried to steady it while the clamps were re-done but it was a lost cause and it was going to fall. I told everyone on “3” we all run clear and let it drop. I then counted to 3 everyone ran and, involuntarily, I just held onto it until everyone else was clear before I ran myself.
Pretty dumb really as it was me it was falling towards from he outset. The very top of the 20 ft structure (and a few dozen 4ft x9″x 4″ timber stair treads) hit the middle of my spine so hard it bent the scaff tubes, I was concertina-ed into the ground with my knees hitting my shoulders.My jeans burst with the impact. The whole thing hit me so hard it bounced back up and I was bounced clear before it came down the second time. Immediately everyone was around me telling me to stay calm and not move – worried that I was causing a fuss and lying there will just panic people into thinking I was paralysed I just got up and dusted myself off. Surprisingly – baring the tattered jeans and having a big graze down my back and the concrete embossed in to the skin of my knees – I was indeed totally unscathed. Some sugary tea and breather and I was back to work within about half an hour.
Sore in the morning though