'I just grabbed her'

Press, 7 October 1980, Page 6

'I just grabbed her '

PA Wellington A 12-year-old girl rescued a schoolfriend from going under the wheels of a Wellington commuter train yesterday, as other children screamed. “I slapped myself on the side of the head, and said I had to do something,” said Debbie Fraser, a Form 1 pupil at St Benedict’s school. The doors of a unit had Just closed when Shari Wheeler, also aged 12, ran on to the platform and tired to jump on to the train through an open baggage-compartmen t door.

“The train had just moved a fraction, and Shari lost her ■ balance,” Debbie said. “She was sitting on the platform with her feet under the train, getting dragged along. She was slipping underneath it. The other kids were , all screaming. I slapped myself on the side of the head and said T had to do something.” By this time Shari had been dragged more than sm. and was being dragged below the train, which was picking up speed, Debbie said. “Sheri’s hand was all floppy. I could hear it

banging against the side of the train. I just ran up and grabbed her — I think I had her by the cardigan. “She didn’t seeni very heavy to pull out.” The train continued, the driver unaware of the rescue. Passing motorists alerted by the panic on the exposed station stopped, and one took Shari to a nearby doctor’s surgery. From there she was taken to Wellington Hospital, where she was treated for multiple grazes and cuts to the head. Hr mother said that Shari was well, and very grateful to Debbie.