The terrified traveller was on a train alone and being followed by three men when she turned to another stranger for help – his actions have been labelled heroic
Travelling alone at night can be a scary experience for many, especially women.
Even if using public transport and in the company of others, there are still dangers that may arise as those wishing to harm or cause fear may not care if they are witnessed. Added to that there’s the walk home after the journey has ended and the risk of being followed that this brings.
One poor woman found herself in this position when she was travelling home on a train at night and was being stalked by three men. Thankfully for her, a kind stranger came to her rescue and made sure she got home safe afterwards. But his experience has opened his eyes to what women go through on a regular basis as he found himself frightened in the moment as well.
He shared the horrible ordeal on Reddit and revealed that when he was on his way home after a few drinks, he saw a woman walking down the train looking scared as she sat down near him. He explained: “Down the train about 10 steps [away] were a group of three guys who seemed to keep looking down our end of the train and going up and sitting near us.
“She came and sat right next to me, with me blocking her of the guys’ view. I pulled out my phone and typed ‘are you being followed?’ and she typed that those three guys had been following her.”
It transpired that the woman was deaf and had tried calling her husband, who was also deaf, but he wasn’t answering. So the man offered to get off the train with her and walk a few streets to make sure she was safe, which she agreed to.
The woman called 999 BSL, which is an emergency video relay service for deaf people, and went to the nearest police station. Unfortunately, this was closed as it was a transport branch and the man didn’t think the usual police number would do much except talk to him on the phone, so he offered to walk her home, even though he had his own worries about that.
“In the back of my mind I’m thinking this is might a setup (sic), but I decide I’d rather get jumped trying to help a woman than leave a deaf woman on her own knowing she was being followed,” he said.
He explained what happened next: “We get to her flat safe and sound, with us checking over our shoulders the whole time. She was petrified the whole time of course but she couldn’t contain it (visibly shaking, constantly looking over her shoulder, signing over the phone, etc.), whereas I kept a calm demeanour and made it seem like I knew where I was going.”
The man declined her offer for him to go inside her flat and on his way back passed one of the three who were following her, which made him feel “scared as hell”. Thankfully the other man paid no attention to him.
However, the experience had a big impact on the kind traveller: “It’s been on my mind all day what could have happened to that woman had I not done anything,” he wrote. “Was it a planned thing? Did they know her? Had they done this before? What if they came for me after dropping her home? I’ll obviously never know the answer but it’s hitting me how badly it could’ve went.”
He urged others to do what they could to help if they see people in trouble and his story provoked many responses about the topic, with everyone praising the man for his brave actions: “This literally got me so emotional… you are so amazing. You did a wonderful thing for her. I hope you always have someone watching over you,” said one.
Another wrote: “It’s the little things in life that you do that have the most meaning. You were someone’s hero when they were afraid. The fact you realise this was a bad situation for her. Could it have gone differently, yes. But I doubt these guys were interested in you, only her. Good job.”
A third noted how this isn’t a one-off incident: “This is a super common occurrence with women. It happens constantly. Believe women. We are deaf in my home and sign. Thank you for this,” they said.
One reader was taken aback by their own reaction to his tale: “I unexpectedly just had an emotional reaction to this post,” they shared. “As a woman, I appreciate what you went out of your way to do for another woman, especially one in distress. Thank you for not blowing her off and assuming she was ‘being dramatic’ or even worse ‘deserved it .’ I would say it’s almost certain you saved her from suffering an awful event that night. You are a good person, and I could only hope there are more like you out there than I think.”
Another woman backed this, she wrote: “As a fellow female, thank you for helping her. When you’re stuck in a sketchy situation with other males/men, it’s even more nerve wracking to try and get help from another male. You’re not sure if you’re going from bad to worse. So, thank you for being a good human.”
Following all the praise in the comments, the original poster updated his story saying he wasn’t after glory but wanted to bring attention to the subject for both sexes: “As a guy I’ve never had to think about anything like this, but the other night was very eye-opening,” he said. “The intention of this post is to highlight how these scenarios are both dangerous and scary for anybody, especially to men who a lot of the time don’t fully grasp what it’s like.”
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
