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[UPDATE] Hero Who Saved Baby From Subway Tracks Missed Important Job Interview
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
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[UPDATE BELOW] Could the story about the good Samaritan who rescued the baby from the elevated J train tracks get any more Bart's People? Of course it could: The tabloids tracked down the man who rescued the nine-month-old boy after a gust of wind blew him and his stroller onto the trackbed at Van Siclen Avenue in Cypress Hills. And according to the Daily News, our hero is an unemployed father of two who missed a big job interview because he was busy saving the baby. Is the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. hiring?
Delroy Simmonds tells the News, "Everybody is making me out to be some sort of superhero. I’m just a normal person. Anybody in that situation should have done what I did." According to witnesses, the baby was blown onto the tracks just as the J train could be seen rounding the bend into the station. Witnesses say the mother, Maria Zamara, was "frozen in shock." And the boy's "brothers and sisters were crying," witness Khalima Ansari tells CBS New York. "They were just so scared!” The stroller landed upside down, with the baby underneath, and Ansari adds, "I don’t know if the conductor would’ve seen the baby if the guy wasn’t there because of the guy’s height!"
“I jumped down and I snatched the baby up,” Simmonds tells the News. “The train was coming around the corner as I lifted the baby from the tracks. I really wasn’t thinking." The child was rushed to the hospital with a gash on his forehead, but doctors say he's going to be okay. “He’s a hero, no doubt about it,” Ansari tells the Post.
But Simmonds insists he isn't looking for pats on the back, he needs a paycheck. He's been unemployed for a year, and because of the train delays caused by yesterday's freak accident, he missed an interview for a maintenance job at a warehouse. But the good news is he has another shot today... and we're thinking it probably couldn't hurt to strategically drop a copy of today's Daily News onto the desk during the interview.
Update 12:50 p.m.:Aaaaand he's hired! The News reports that Simmonds just found work as a maintenance man in Terminal Three at JFK airport. In addition to custodial responsibilities, he'll also "be responsible for keeping his eyes open for potential danger — which he’s already shown he can do." Even better, his starting salary of $9.50 an hour is $2 higher than the usual starting salary.
“It says a lot about his character that he would jump on the tracks to save a (child),” manager Guy Rodriguez tells the News. See, getting a job isn't so hard in this town if you just show a little initiative and willingness to risk getting run over by an oncoming train. We look forward to Simmonds's first payday, which will undoubtedly be handed out at a big press conference in the form of a giant oversize check.
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barts people
brooklyn
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MTA
subway
subway hero
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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