When a sudden burst of wind blew a nine-month-old into the path of an approaching New York City subway train Tuesday afternoon, witnesses froze in horror, the New York Daily News reports.
Then, an unemployed Brooklyn father, on his way to a job interview, jumped onto the elevated tracks and lifted the boy to safety as the train screeched to a halt halfway into the station.
“Everybody is making me out to be some sort of superhero,” Delroy Simmonds told the Daily News Tuesday night. “I’m just a normal person. Anybody in that situation should have done what I did.”
“It was the fatherly instinct,” he added. “I would have done it for any baby.”
Simmonds has two daughters, ages eight and five.
The child’s mother, identified by sources as Maria Zamara, reportedly stood in shock when her baby toppled onto the tracks.
“There was a woman with four kids,” Simmonds explained. “One was in a stroller. The wind blew the baby onto the tracks.”
He estimated the burst of wind to be 30 to 40 mph.
Khalima Ansari, 21, watched the rescue and called 911.
“The baby had a big gash on his forehead,” Ansari said. “You could see his skull.”
A nearby hospital treated the nine-month-old for cuts to his face and head. “He’s okay … we are thankful,” the boy’s father told the Daily News from the hospital.
Simmonds was supposed to interview for a warehouse maintenance position. He previously worked as a vocational trainer for the mentally disabled but was laid off.
“I’ve been looking for a job for a year and change,” he said. “I’m looking for something to support my family.”