A man is lucky to be alive after he fell from a ledge onto train tracks and was pulled to safety by Seattle police just seconds before a fast-moving train roared past.
The Seattle Police Department said that at about 9:15 p.m. on Oct. 7, officers responded to reports of a man sitting on a ledge above the train tracks near 2nd Avenue and East Jackson Street.
Police said the man was having a mental health crisis.
When officers arrived, they spoke with the 57-year-old man and attempted to talk him off the ledge and back to safety.
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As officers spoke to the man, police dispatch requested all inbound trains to be stopped, but one train was already inbound.
At one point, the man slipped off the ledge and fell nearly 25 feet onto the rock-covered surface below, suffering serious injuries that prevented him from moving.
With a high-speed train approaching, officers on the lower platform rushed across the tracks to rescue the man.
In fact, one officer risked his life and was able to drag the man to safety with less than a second to spare.
The man suffered multiple fractures, police said. He was treated at the scene by the Seattle Fire Department before being taken to the Harborview Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition.
