HEROES

Update:
Tip of the hat to Ryan.  The story is now national and CNN has video footage. 

Update:
The teen who grabbed the woman out of the car is Tommy Foust.  Read more about it here.  Would be nice if this got more than local coverage--we all need to hear about more stories like this.

A few hours ago I witnessed something incredible. 

While riding my motorbike I pulled up to a red light adjacent to a train crossing minutes from my home in Glenview IL.  Across the intersection I could make out a few teenagers running across the tracks.  There was something on the tracks—it appeared to be a car, but I couldn't be sure.  The next thing I knew the train crossing lit up and the guards went down.

It all happened within seconds.

I saw 2 young men dash away from the car and literally dive into the weeds next to the tracks.  They were holding something.  SECONDS later—no more than 5 or so, TWO diesel trains ripped the car to shreds.  It might have been a scene out of a movie.  I pulled over my bike to where the teenagers were and two boys emerged from the weeds carrying an elderly woman.  Turns out she mistakingly made a right turn on the tracks and ended up facing an ongoing train.  Her car was stuck on the tracks and she was disoriented.

You won't find any of these details on the story that recently went up on the Chicago Tribune because they are most likely fact checking.   But I was there, and I captured what I saw with my own eyes via Twitter.  There are some very special heroes out there that may be getting some attention from the press in the days to come.  I went up to those young men and could only say this:

"You did something good here—you did the right thing"

Below is the transcript from my Twitter account.  What's worth noting is that it's times like this when we realize the potential of a tool like Twitter.  For the field journalist, Twitter is something to investigate.

...And for the rest of us, I'll say this:
Heroes still exist—and the real ones aren't on a television show and don't have special powers, they're people like you and me.  Those were a couple of brave kids.  They cheated death by SECONDS.  They didn't think, they acted.  Tonight, there's a family and possibly some grandchildren out there who can be very thankful that a couple of outstanding young adults "did the right thing".

Comments

[Connie Reece]

David, your Twitter reporting had me on the edge of my seat tonight -- and it's not the first time Twitter has not just been a source of breaking news but has brought us a behind-the-scenes view of events. I'm thinking of Jim Long (@newmediajim) twittering first-hand reports when he covered the Virginia Tech mass murders for NBC and, most recently, the president's secret trip to Iraq and APEC in Sydney. Also, Cathleen Rittereiser (@cathleenritt) was stranded in NYC after being evacuated due to an explosion, and she alerted us by Twitter. I managed to reach her on G-talk and we conversed for 2 hours, with me relaying her messages on Twitter to friends who were concerned about her safety.

In these instances, Twitter's simple "what am I doing" 140-character messages can be life altering.

Thanks for bringing us the story of these two young heroes. It will be interesting to see how it's reported in the MSM after having read your on-the-scene commentary.

[Codswallop]

Hi David,

This is an amazing story, Thanks for sharing. I just stumbled it and send it to a couple of friends :)

Yoav

[theodp]

Teen Rescues Elderly Woman From Amtrak Tracks
http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/917312.php?contentType=4&contentId=892032

[Liz Strauss]

Wow! David,
This is so amazing. It's a story about hope. Thank you for it. It's unforgettable and inspiring.

[Edwin]

Warms the heart on a lazy sunday. Thx

[Aaron]

Great read, thanks.

[dave]

David - aside from the obvious heartwarming you felt from this extraordinary goodwill gesture, you gained a whole lot more.

To relate, let's pretend that Barry Bonds ingested a massive dose of steroids. He now looks like a superhero cartoon character and he hits 700 foot homeruns.

On any given day you can observe a routine occurrence, put a graphic together and mesmerize us with a life or biz lesson.

But now, add a mountain of personal emotion to that occurrence? Lights out!

The experience of this most amazing moment, (thank God all are safe), will continue to surface in your work and life, and all who are around you will benefit.

Didn't mean to take away from the teenager's heroic efforts here nor sound like a doting fan, which I'm not. But I observe this stuff here and possess the utter inability to keep it to myself.

[Tammy]

David, your story moved me on this quiet Sunday morning. It's easy to find news stories of teens doing wrong, and it's so powerful to see stories like these to remind us that the news can inadvertently give us a slanted view of the world.

[Robyn]

David, this story is incredible. Thanks for bringing so much detail to share it with us. I sensed I was there with you!

[Curt]

First time I got news on Twitter was a week or so ago. MarshallK mentioned an earthquake in East Bay. This was much more moving, though alas I caught it via blog.

[Lori Magno]

OMG. Thanks for this D.

[Tim Brunelle]

David -

I really appreciated your style of "reportage" via Twitter. You're right in seeing the value in this means of disseminating news. While it wasn't nearly as dramatic, I did "cover" (via Twitter) my minute-by-minute experience on June 29. http://rurl.org/8qj

Thanks for keeping us on our toes!

- Tim

[Ryan Coleman]

Dave,

Looks like CNN has picked up the story now too:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/09/sot.amtrak.rescue.wls

[Ann]

Thanks for sharing the story with us last night on Twitter. I sat and read with amazement what was happening.

I am sure there are some very proud parents who hugged their kids a little tighter after that incident.

[giL]

Just like 3G mobile phones, Instant message communications already changes the way journalism is made everywhere. Twitter can indeed be a great tool as it allows a journalist to combine both tools (3G mobile and IM). I personally made a few experiments with uploading some 3G clips directly from my RAZR to YouTube. works smoothly.

P.S. I like the way you shared the twitter transcript.

[Mario Sundar]

Just saw the CNN video... That was mighty brave. As for photos, you may want to upload to flickr and send us the link on Twitter.

I know it's more work, but it's probably the best we've gotten thus far...

[karl long]

Great story David, really amazing. The dramatic nature of the story though really does illustrate some of the shortcomings of twitter.

I think the lack of photo's, video, and audio are all missing features of twitter, and I think it's highly likely features like that have to be round the corner.

[bg]

Pretty intense experience. It also raises some issues. It's interesting to consider twitter as tool for reporters when the very nature of twitter contradicts the process of reporting. With what you saw and then reported, the basic Who, Why, What, Where and When nature of reporting got distilled down to 140 characters real quick.

The other ironic thing about twitter as a news reporting tool is that it doesn’t allow the fact checking that traditional media does. You're relying on the person twittering to be accurate.

Notice also the descrepancy between the three stories. No one source reported it the same. Understandable, because people are different. But anythime you see breaking news, the major media seem to grab all their releases from the AP almost word for word. Your twitter account was far more compelling.

(As I write this, the local cable 12 news has the story, but paraphrasing here, it reported it as "an abandoned vehicle on the tracks hit by two trains with no one hurt." That was less than 140 characters but certainly was misleading and not nearly as dramatic.

[Alvin]

Wow David, those kids were mighty heroic. It's inspiring how they showed courage in a split instance of danger. I only pray I do the same if I ever face such a situation.

[DA]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'm glad no one was hurt in all of this, and I'm especially happy that I was able to see first hand that people can put others before themselves.

[jonb]

I love stories like these. It's amazing to see true humanitarianism at work.

A few years ago (not tooting my own horn) I surprised myself by running towards a suicide bombing in Israel - going to help out.

A few hours later, once I had calmed down and everything was taken care of (everyone was safely off the scene) it hit me - secondary bombings were common, and I didn't think twice about running towards a veritable battlefield.

When I asked my Rabbi about this disregard for personal safety (I was at his house unloading after the trauma) he said that heroic acts are not individual acts of heroism, but the natural result of years of development.

If you make yourself someone who stops to talk someone down on their luck, if you make yourself a true humanitarian, heroism isn't something you think about, it is something you are.

Witnessing this triumph of humanity is amazing. Thanks for sharing, the energy in your live storytelling in truly infectious.

[Randy]

The editorial about your reporting on the Civilities blog is interesting: http://civilities.net/Unread_Alerts

The author is asking for protocosl to be established when 'reporting' via a mobile device. He appears to want to establish the same level of journalistic "objectivity" to all reports - whether via phone, video or print. What made your reporting engaging was its visceral nature - you were reacting emotionally, not systematically. Like the student who shot the footage at VaTech, it was a human reaction that everyone who read/saw could relate.

Thought should be given to Twitter and other mobile reporting for journalists, first responders and others who encounter similar incidents. But for first-person responses like your's, I will gladly take the emotional perspective - like a good book, it takes me into the action and grabs my attention.

[Shaping Youth]

David, Just the kind of stories I'm looking for at Shaping Youth...Keep 'em coming! Can you ping me for an interview on this when time avails?

I'd like to link/repost this piece as a powerfully positive example of people using new media technology to make a difference in the world, as well as a media literacy lesson on why some items get picked up and others don't!

Bravo. Excellent coverage! Your fellow AOC pal, Amy