SEATTLE — Seattle police jumped into action after a man fell onto the path of an oncoming train.
“I want to help you and I need you to hear me when I say that,” said SPD officer Shannon Brown, as he and his partner began talking a man off a ledge over the active train tracks.
KIRO 7 spoke with Officer Brown as he gave us a glimpse into an often unseen part of their daily lives, and the toll it can take on officers.
“I think for most people, the worst thing you might see in your life is something that I’ll probably see twice in my day,” said Officer Brown. He had just come from a scene where a woman fell from a window and did not survive, so when he saw the man slip, there was only time to react - and fast.
“As soon as he hit the ground, we heard the train horn blaring and we saw the lights,” said Brown, with only seconds to make a life-and-death decision for the man who fell, and for both officers.
Officer Shannon Brown and his partner jumped into action, grabbing the man and pulling him to safety with just moments to spare.
“Soon as we pulled him and the train was going by, we started rendering aid and checking him and tried to comfort him,” said Brown.
The 57-year-old man survived the impact from the fall, and both he and the officers missed the speeding train by mere inches.
Officer Brown says that as traumatic as his day was, they ended it with a lifesaving win, “Seattle police officers getting there and taking with him... like that made the most important difference. Like, we’re gonna talk you off the ledge, and just in case you still make your decision, we’re still going to do everything we can to make sure that you’re going to live at the end of the day.”