Railway staffer risks life to save 6-year-old boy near Mumbai

A Central Railway Mumbai division pointman Mayur Shelke, 36, risked his life to save a visually-challenged 6-year-old boy, who lost his balance while walking along platform no. 2 at Vangani station with his visually-impaired mother and fell on the tracks

In a heroic move, a Central Railway Mumbai division pointman Mayur Shelke, 36, risked his life to save a visually-challenged 6-year-old boy, who lost his balance while walking along platform no. 2 at Vangani station with his visually-impaired mother and fell on the tracks. The woman, Sangita Shirsat,34, was unable to locate her son while an express train was approaching along the track. Shelke ran towards the boy and picked him up before the train could approach and saved him.

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The video of the incident went viral following which railway minister Piyush Goyal applauded Shelke’s action in his tweet.

On Saturday around 5pm, the boy was heading home with his mother. While walking on platform no. 2, they both lost the direction and the boy fell on the track along. A Central Railway official said, “At the same time we heard the horn of a fast train coming, but we were far from the spot. The woman was unable to locate her son. Shelke without thinking about his own safety ran towards the boy and within three seconds he managed to save boy and then jumped to the platform. He would have lost his life too if he was even a bit slower.”

Goyal in a tweet said, “Very proud of Mayur Shelke, Railwayman from Vangani Railway Station in Mumbai who has done an exceptionally courageous act, risked his own life and saved a child’s life.”

Shelke used to work as a pointman at Karjat for five years and was transferred to Vangani around eight months ago. He said, “We were waiting to send signal to Udyan Express towards Mumbai. I saw the visually-impaired woman and her son on the platform walking towards Karjat side. Suddenly the boy came to the corner of the platform and lost his footing and fell off. I was 60 metres away from them and saw the express approaching.”

He added, “I realised that even though we will show the red flag, the express could not come to a halt immediately, as the distance between the boy and the train was too less and the speed of the train was high. I decided to save him at any cost. I ran towards him and put him on the platform. I was scared at the same time as the train was near me, but I gathered all my courage and jumped up. I was clueless what I had done and realised the impact only when everyone around me started appreciating.”

He was felicitated by local GRP and passenger’s association for his bravery.