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T operator to be honored for stopping short of woman on tracks

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 11, 2010 04:25 PM

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

A young woman topples into the train pit at North Station as the lights of an approaching Orange Line train grow in the distance. Frantic bystanders wave to the train as it bears down on the woman. The train grinds to a stop just inches from the woman. She crawls out from under the front of the train, miraculously unharmed.

It's a story that could have ended tragically without the quick thinking of train operator Charice Lewis.

Now, Lewis is being honored for stopping the hurtling behemoth just in time in the November incident, which was captured on a stunning MBTA surveillance video.

Lewis, who has worked for the MBTA since 2006, will get the Community Recognition Award from Partners In Transportation at the State Transportation Building at noon Friday, the MBTA announced today.

“I like my job and I think I can make a difference here just by doing my job,” Lewis said in a statement. “Some may call me a hero. I don't consider myself to be that. The people who were on the platform that day are the heroes. I was just doing my job, paying attention and doing what I was trained to do in emergency situations.”

The event will be hosted by Registrar Rachel Kaprielian of the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan will participate, the MBTA said.