Sigh. Some days, I love my job. Others, I come away thinking what the hell I am doing, and how I can put up with this stress. Match days definitely fall into the second category. The overriding feeling of yesterday is… stress. And a cataclysmic near miss.
On approach to Twickenham, as we were half into the platform (evidenced by me seeing everything unfolding nearly just behind me in the middle cab of a 458), I see everything going into slow motion, and a drunk man walking beyond the yellow line of the platform towards my moving train. My first immediate reaction is to move towards the emergency brake button, but as I do so and he is just two short steps from the edge, the gap and my train… I see a quick-witted BTP officer grab him and pull him away, and out of danger.
This is the closest near-miss I’ve had since starting as a Guard, and as you can imagine it left me a little shaky afterwards. Thankfully it was PNB time when I returned into Waterloo.
I hate match days.