Thursday, November 30, 2006

 

Person Under Train

30-NOV-2006:
After being caught in a slow and late-running train several times, the lesson learnt is to check the Transport For London (TFL) website everytime before traveling to ensure that there are no signal failure, suspended trains, planned engineering works and delays. So on one particular evening before I left work, I checked the website and sure enough there it was - the Picadilly line was half suspended from Hammersmith onwards because of a 'Person Under Train' at Earl's Court station.
Having being informed, I took a bus to another station to catch the District train instead. All was well and my journey home was not delayed - thanks to the frequently updated website.
I soon forgot about the 'Person Under Train' incident until one day I saw an article on the newspaper about 2 teenage boys being trapped under a train at Earl's Court station - and one of them was dead. According to witnesses, the 2 teenagers were running around the platform chasing each other when they fell on the the track. Even though the train driver tried to brake but the train ran into them. The news was so tragic. I did not expect anyone to be killed. Seen it on TV and all but can't imagine how I would feel if I had witnessed the accident.
This brings me to realise that every morning when I opened the newspaper, there would be news about people being killed or murdered. Everyday, lives are lost - hundreds killed in the Iraqi war, couple killed in road accident, baby girl savaged by rottweiler, boyfriend murdered girlfriend, teenager punched man to death, etc, etc. There isn't a single day that the newspaper is free of 'death news'.
I recall a few months ago when the UK government said that 'another terrorist attack is inevitable' and I also recall saying that I'm not afraid of dying but most worried about what would happen to my loved ones. What would happen to Dominic if mummy's not around? What would I do if something happened to Saimun. I'm really too horrified to imagine. The truth is - I AM afraid of dying. Life is too good to end at the moment. All of us should be thankful that we survived each day without being hit by a typhoon, covered in landslide and all the horrible events that left thousands of people homeless, if not dead.

Comments:
Amen to your positive thinking.

Just found your post because I was running a search for any stories about "a man under a train at Earl's Court". My neighbour's dad threw himself under a train there on Monday. Also just after you made this post in 2006 there was an incident involving some kids who played for QPR set-up who were mucking around and knocked a Vietnamese university student into the tracks who was crushed under a train.. at Earl's Court. Surely that station must have a bad record, or does this just happen more often then it the news/tfl care to report?

Anyhow, back to the overall overtones of your posting, it is a wonderful feeling when life is too good to comprehend dying, so much going for the good that you'd never even want to imagine anything else. Congratulations on being there and I hope all is well with your family. But there are a wealth of people who don't have that umph to live and would care less if it were to end. That's why I think it's important to try and put a smile on stranger's faces, you never know how much just talking to one person can change their day/week or sometimes even longer.

Gav
 
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