We have seen it in Indian movies. A train barrelling towards a child who had fallen on the railway track, and a hero arrives just in the nick of time to save the day.

Such scenes are usually brushed off as cinematics, but it really happened in Mumbai recently, and the heroic act has been captured on camera.

According to Mid Day newspaper, the incident happened at the Vangani station in Mumbai last Saturday (Apr 17), when a six-year-old fell on the railway track from the edge of the platform, where he had been standing with his partially sighted mother.

Alerted by the woman's call for help, railway pointsman Mayur Shelke, 30, jumped onto the track and sprinted more than 30 metres along the track to grab the boy and push him onto the platform. For the record, a pointsman's job is to check the train signals.

A shocking closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident shows Shelke himself hoisting himself up the platform, just about two seconds before a train thunders past the spot.

"I saw the kid falling and the train speeding towards him. There was no chance he would have lived had I not intervened.

"There was no time to think at all. I was determined to save him," Shelke was quoted telling the paper, admitting that he was indeed afraid of the looming train as he sprung into action.

Not surprisingly, netizens are lauding Shelke - a Bachelor of Arts graduate, as a superhero.

The Ministry of Railways has since announced an award of Rs50,000 for (RM2,727) for Shelke to recognize his selfless act.

It has since been reported that Mayur donated half of his reward money to the partially sighted mother and the child he saved, for his education.

You can watch the nailbiting moments of the timely rescue below.



Source: Mid Day
Photo source: Mid Day, Facebook
Video source: The Print Youtube