A Commuter Who Sometimes Missed His Stop After Long Shifts Got a Car for Saving a Stranger

Anthony Perry had just stepped off a train at the 69th Street station on the CTA Red Line, in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, on Monday, June 6, 2022. Then he saw two men facing each other with their fists up. Next he saw one of them lying lifeless on the tracks, his hand pinned under a rail.¹

Perry, then 20, jumped down while onlookers recorded and yelled for help. The man was lying on the electrified third rail. Perry dragged him off and, with a bystander’s help, gave him CPR, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.¹

Afterward, a young commuter with no working car was given one, and he later received a Carnegie Hero Fund award as well.¹⁷

What happened on the tracks

The incident began as a fight. Police were still investigating what led to the man’s fall onto the tracks. He was not identified, and he was still hospitalized on Wednesday.¹ Fox 32 later reported that he survived.⁷

The CTA said both men had come in contact with the third rail. Perry told Fox 32 he got minor burns from briefly touching it.⁴ A later Fox 32 report on his hero award described him as uninjured.⁷

A gas card, then a tow truck

A Facebook post of the rescue video had about 133,000 views by Wednesday afternoon. Philanthropist Early Walker, founder of the anti-violence group I’m Telling Don’t Shoot, said his wife told him about it.¹

That Wednesday, Walker and the Chicago Police Department honored Perry across from Meyering Park, at 7140 S. King Drive, near Perry’s grandfather’s home. Walker started by handing him a $25 gas card.¹

“We know gas prices are high, so we wanted to give you this gas card,” Walker said, according to the Sun-Times.¹

Perry has no working car. A tow truck then pulled up carrying a 2009 Audi A8.¹⁵ An advance report from Citizen Newspaper Group said a W&W tow truck owned by Walker would deliver the car.⁶ Reports differed on the model: ABC7 and 6abc described it as a 2008 Audi A6.³²

“Look at God, y’all,” Perry said, the Sun-Times reported.¹

The car fixed a real problem. Perry works at Amazon Fresh in Oak Lawn and gets there by taking two buses and a train. After long shifts, he said, he has fallen asleep on the train and missed his stop. He said the car will make his life “way easier.”¹

“We just wanted to honor you, we want more Anthonys in the world,” Walker said.¹

Officers from the police department’s 3rd District came too. Commander Roderick Watson suggested the department might try to recruit Perry.¹

“This is what we need more of. Police can’t be everywhere at all times,” Watson said, according to the Sun-Times.¹

More honors later

Amazon, Perry’s employer, also honored him and announced plans to donate $10,000 to an organization of his choosing.⁸

Perry later received $5,000 from the Carnegie Hero Fund, which honors people who enter extreme danger to save others. He told Fox 32 he felt electricity the first two times he tried to lift the man. On the third try, he didn’t.⁷