Drunk lady falls from tube platform.

[ImmortalBeloved]

Was she drunk, suicidal or epileptic?? Either way, she was very lucky to get out of this.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AxkBYvthbk&feature=topvideos"]YouTube- 'Drunk' woman survives near miss with tube train[/ame]

[Philidor]

That driver deserves a medal. Flo and I have a friend who drives a London tube train. He had his first suicide a couple of years back, and wrote this.

[Florestan]

Back in the years when I used to party heavily, it's a wonder nothing like this ever happened to me.

It's extraordinary, the self-preserving autopilot (or perhaps guardian angel) that most inebriated people have most of the time. But obviously it doesn't always work.

Now there would be an idea for nanowrimo - a guardian angel whose sole job is to keep drunk people out of trouble. He/she/it would have had to do something pretty bad to get that assignment.

[Florestan]

Originally Posted by ImmortalBeloved

Was she drunk, suicidal or epileptic??

Definitely drunk. It takes one to know one!

[ImmortalBeloved]

Originally Posted by Philidor

That driver deserves a medal. Flo and I have a friend who drives a London tube train. He had his first suicide a couple of years back, and wrote this.

OMG..your poor friend..how on earth does one get over something like that? How is he now? I can speak from experience in regards to PTSD (I suffer from it now and am awaiting counselling). I hope he got (and still gets if needs be) the help and support he needed.

Flo.. I got very very drunk for my 21st birthday. Friends and I were walking..or staggering...home. I bumped into someone, and was hugging them saying how sorry I was. My friends were collapsed in fits of laughter. I had bumped into, and was consequently hugging and apologising to.... a lampost!

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by ImmortalBeloved

OMG..your poor friend..how on earth does one get over something like that? How is he now?

OK I think. Not seen him for a while. He's got his head screwed on and a loving partner. Plus it happens so often, and the tube unions are so strong, there's a solid official support network (free shrinks, paid time off work, going back to work gradually, working with another driver in the cab to start with, etc etc). He tough and clever but also sensitive so I doubt he'll ever forget it. So it's 'just' a question of effective management. The tube drivers deserve every penny they get imo. I wouldn't like to look into the eyes of a jumper while hanging on to the emergency brake. Those seconds must go very slowly....

Originally Posted by ImmortalBeloved

I can speak from experience in regards to PTSD (I suffer from it now and am awaiting counselling).

Very sorry to hear that. I've suffered from stress in the past (I only realised it years later) so know it's not pleasant.

[ImmortalBeloved]

Originally Posted by Philidor

Very sorry to hear that. I've suffered from stress in the past (I only realised it years later) so know it's not pleasant.

Thank you. I hope you've fully recovered now. Mine catches me when I think I'm doing ok. Then I realise I'm not ok at all. I'm sure the counselling will help.

I can imagine how your friend felt. When my accident happened last year, the event itself was over in five minutes, but seemed like a lifetime.

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by ImmortalBeloved

Thank you. I hope you've fully recovered now.

I'm fine thank you! It happened years ago and I recovered without realising I'd been ill.

Originally Posted by ImmortalBeloved

Mine catches me when I think I'm doing ok. Then I realise I'm not ok at all.

Very sorry to hear that. It's funny the things one remembers from moments of crisis, and the effect those memories have. Talking to a clever shrink can be extremely helpful. They can help unpick knots. I like my friend's reaction to the man who tapped on his cab door. Many would be furious, but he found comfort in it. I said he had his head screwed on - just the sort of man I want driving my train.

By the time we were stationary, four of my eight cars were in the platform and I was on autopilot. I told the passengers there would be a delay in opening the doors due to an "incident", and was calling the line controller for assistance when I heard a tap on my cab door. A smart man inquired, "Do you know there's a person under your train?" I looked at the blood on the windscreen momentarily before assuring him that, yes, I was aware.

He paused for a heartbeat, looked at his watch and said, "So, how long before we get on the move again?"

I was to look back on this exchange with amusement and also, strangely, comfort: in the midst of the horror, normality was briefly restored by a commuter asking for alternative travel arrangements.