Australian Super Commuters Use Strength to Save Stuck Passenger

A man in Australia got his leg stuck in the gap while boarding a train at a Perth station but was rescued by some of his superhuman fellow commuters.

Transperth spokesman David Hynes told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News that on Wednesday morning "he stood in the doorway and as he was sort of taking up his position there, one leg slipped outside the door, slipped outside the gap, and he was stuck."

The conductor was alerted to stop moving and due to the delay other curious morning travelers started to congregate. "Then our staff who were there at the time got the passengers, and there were lots of them, off the train, and organized them to sort of rock, tilt the train backwards away from the platform so they were able to get him out and rescue him," Hynes explained. While an ambulance was summoned, the man didn’t sustain any serious injuries and was therefore not taken to hospital. "It was people power that saved someone from possibly quite serious injury," he added.

While this situation is no Angela Cavallo mustering up Hulk-level amounts of strength to lift a Chevy Impala off her son following a car accident, it’s still an impressive display of not only brawn but compassion as well. In Cavallo’s case, the phenomenon of hysterical strength kicked in. While not scientifically proven (circumstances are difficult to replicate) the sensation has to do with adrenaline and noradrenaline, which are hormones that create a fight-or-flight response, allow muscles to contract more than they normally would, can raise the heart rate, dilate pupils, slow digestion, and increase respiration.

No single person today was a superhero with adrenaline surging through their body, instead it was a group effort — and some is better than one.