Good Samaritan averts man's suicide attempt at SEPTA subway station

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- A Good Samaritan is being credited with preventing a man from committing suicide Wednesday morning in Center City.

Calvin Wilson, 56, says it was shortly after 9 a.m. that he was at the Race-Vine Station of the Broad Street subway.

That's when he says he noticed a woman trying to stop her much taller and bigger husband from jumping off the platform and onto the tracks.

"And then all of a sudden, she really let out a real scream, 'Help me, I need help. He's trying to kill himself,' " said Wilson.

Wilson, a Navy war veteran who served in Desert Storm, says he noticed no one was stepping in to help. So at that point, his military instinct kicked in.

"I was always trained if you run into a situation, count to 30. After 30 seconds, if nobody takes charge, you take charge," said Wilson.

Wilson, who is similar in stature to the would-be victim, ran to the other side of the tracks to help.

"That's when I grabbed him, and I just took one good breath," said Wilson. "I took one good breath and said this is it, and I just threw my weight."

SEPTA camera's captured Wilson pushing the button on the yellow emergency boxes that can be found on every platform.

"It goes directly to our radio room. A dispatcher immediately goes to the video and sees what's going on there and, in this case, a message is immediately sent to rail operations, which shuts down the trains," said SEPTA Chief Thomas Nestel.

Shortly thereafter, SEPTA police arrived and took over from there.

"And when it's all over, that man hugs the woman," said Nestel. "Priceless, absolutely priceless."

Wilson, who comes from a strong Christian family says he's just glad he was able to help.

"Yeah I guess it wasn't his time to go, and I was the angel that was there at the time," said Wilson. "So I flapped my wings, and went over there and saved him."