Man gifted car for saving stranger being electrocuted is now training to be an EMT

A Chicago man was praised for his heroics and honored after he singlehandedly saved a stranger who had fallen on train tracks and was being electrocuted by a rail. According to Reader’s Digest, the June 2022 incident occurred after Anthony Perry alighted from a train at Chicago’s 69th Street station.

Perry was going to meet his grandfather for them to assess a car that he was interested in purchasing. But two men who were on the platform got into a physical altercation and later fell on the train tracks. 

As the fight ensued on the tracks, one of the men started convulsing. The other man subsequently returned to the platform and went out of sight. It turned out the man who was convulsing had fallen on the third rail, which is the channel that carries the 600 volts of electricity that enables the city’s L trains to operate. 

As the man continued to struggle, a woman desperately asked someone to help him. “Please, someone!” she said. Perry eventually chose not to ignore the distressed man and carefully went down the rail to try and help him. And though he tried not to get electrocuted, he was shocked when he initially grabbed the victim. He was shocked again during his second attempt, but he managed to pull the man to safety when he tried the third time.

The man appeared dead but was breathing irregularly, per Reader’s Digest. A woman who was wearing scrubs then told Perry to “give him chest compressions.” And though Perry wasn’t familiar with that, he applied the pressure on the man’s chest until he started convulsing.

Perry remained with the victim until paramedics and firefighters responded and took over. He later returned to the platform and went to meet his grandfather as planned. But it turned out the car he was interested in buying had been sold. 

Perry’s heroics were reported in the evening news, and after a friend disclosed his identity to the media, the rewards started coming his way. He was gifted a car a few days after the incident. The Chicago Fire Department also offered him a job, and he’s now training to be an EMT, Reader’s Digest reported.