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Heroic college football player saves passengers on runaway train
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A college football player has been labeled a hero after saving passengers from a runaway train near the Albany-Rensselaer train station in New York.
On Wednesday, Amtrak passengers were traveling for the holiday season, which is never an easy task a day before Thanksgiving. But a day of hassle turned into near tragedy as a car actually detached from the train.
“All the sudden we heard noises and the train started going faster and we saw sparks out the back and we realized that we had become detached from the rest of the train,” passenger Helen Crane told WRGB 6 in Albany. “It was terrifying. People were upset, people started to panic.”
That’s when 18-year-old Reuben Clarke, a student and offensive lineman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, stepped in. His calm demeanor and quick thinking saved hundreds from disaster.
“The car from the back of the train was like leaving us and I saw sparks and stuff like that and a huge gust of wind so I just calmed myself down and I was like ‘We have to stop the train and make sure everyone was fine,'” Clarke told WRGB 6 in Albany.
Clarke was able to pull the emergency brake, bringing the car to a stop before derailing or causing serious harm to any of the passengers.
No one was injured according to reports. The reason for the car separation is being investigated.
RPI is a Division III football program. Clarke has played in five games this season, but his efforts on the field pale in comparison to his heroic actions Wednesday night.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB