A 9-month old boy was saved from being hit by a subway train on Tuesday, by an unemployed Brooklyn man on his way to a job interview.
The child was blown onto the elevated tracks in the way of an oncoming train by a gust of wind. Delroy Simmonds pulled the hurt child and his stroller up off of the tracks and onto the platform just as the J train flew by them.
"A strong gust of wind blew. It had to be 30, 40 miles an hour," he recalled to NY Daily News. "There was a woman with four kids. One was in a stroller. The wind blew the baby onto the tracks."
Both witnesses and the child's mother, identified as Maria Zamara, were left frozen in shock upon seeing the child on the tracks as the train made a bend in the child's direction.
"I jumped down and I snatched the baby up," Simmonds said. "The train was coming around the corner as I lifted the baby from the tracks. I really wasn't thinking."
A father of two, Simmonds didn't really see the heroism in what he did. He instead thought it was something anyone would have done in that situation.
"Everybody is making me out to be some sort of superhero...Anybody in that situation should have done what I did," Simmonds said. "It was the fatherly instinct. I have two daughters of my own - 8 and 5. I was being a father. I would have done it for any baby."
On Tuesday, Simmonds was far from searching for praise, he instead was in search a paying job to help stabilize he and his family.
"I've been looking for a job for a year and change, "Simmonds said. "I'm looking for something to support my family."
The incident occurred as Simmonds was on his way to apply for a maintenance position at a warehouse. His heroism unfortunately led him to miss the interview, which could have landed him his first job after being laid off as a vocational trainer for the mentally disabled.
A hopeful Simmonds said he has another interview for Wednesday and is just hoping to finally land a job.
