BYSTANDERS SAVE MAN WHO FELL OFF PLATFORM

Visually challenged man fell onto tracks, was pulled to safety.

Good Samaritans risked their own lives Thursday morning to save a visually impaired man who fell off a MARTA platform in downtown Atlanta.

The man fell near southbound tracks at the Five Points station about 8 a.m., MARTA spokesman Erik Burton said.

A video of the incident, obtained by Channel 2 Action News, shows four people were directly involved in helping the man, who was carrying a walking stick.

Daniel Summers, a Georgia-Pacific employee and regular MARTA rider, was one of them.

“I knew I had to do something fast,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I dropped my bag and jumped down on the tracks. As I approached the man, another bystander jumped down with me.”

Summers and the other bystander got on either side of the man and lifted him by his legs, while two other people pulled the man up by his shoulders.

“We ... stood him up, gave each other a nod, and then lifted him up onto the platform,” he said. “Several MARTA police arrived moments later and pulled both me and the other bystander out from the tracks.”

The man was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with what Burton described as an ankle or leg injury. His name was not released.

“I wasn’t the first one there, but I was the first to act,” Summers said. “Every day, we’re presented with opportunities to lend a hand and be compassionate to one another. This was one of those times, and I’m just glad I was able to help,” he said.

‘Every day, we’re presented with opportunities to lend a hand and be compassionate to one another.’ Daniel Summers MARTA rider