- I was visiting London with my daughter and her 3 year old son Archie.
- In a second, Archie was put on a subway train while my daughter and I were left standing on the platform.
- The next train was coming in seven minutes, and we got scared.
London is a fantastic city With history, parks, good food and drink with a great transport system. I was there for the day with Chantelle, my daughter and Archie, my 3 year old nephew. The unreasonable October sun made our walk around Hyde Park very pleasant.
wend London Bridge For lunch, we returned to the nearest station, passed through the barriers and entered the depths.
The air rush announced The tube that arrivesChantelle and Archie were right in front of me as we hurried up the steps to Notting Hill Gate. Returning to the platform she was already there, the doors open. Midday throng meant we wouldn’t get that; I was already hanging, waiting for another one as the doors closed.
Through the noise of commuters and motorbikes, I heard my daughter screaming. The tube began to moveand I saw her walking along, gesturing with her hands. Struggling through the crowd, I saw Archie on the train. There was no staff to be seen, no emergency phone on the platform and no phone signal from deep underground. The white body of the carriage disappeared into the tunnel, and for a second, there was silence.
We hoped he would get off at the next station
Running a few yards for my daughter, I looked at the information board above her head. The next train would be in seven minutes.
These seven minutes were the longest 97 years of my life.
“We’ll get another one. If you want, I’ll run upstairs and try to find someone to get help?” Even as I spoke, she was shaking her head.
She said there was no point. By the time I got there and called someone for help, the next train would have left. She said she had shown him how to get off the train and that he would wait at the next station. She paused for a second, then said, “I hope so.”
it it seemed remarkably calm.
The thoughts that went through my head at that moment weren’t great if I’m honest. Deep down, I know that people are good, and only a small child will almost always be taken care of.
However, although the negative thoughts were strong for both of them, on the outside, my daughter was strength personified.
We boarded a train
Unable to do anything positive except reassure each other that everyone would be fine, we opened the platform, telling each other that he was already off the train, neither of us knowing if he was. this case. A train came without stopping. My worst fear was this stopping at the next station and Archie panicking when we didn’t leave.
An eternity later, we hopped on a train and took the one-minute ride to Holborn station in the various carriages to give us a wider search area.
As we pulled away, I frantically scanned up and down, looking for a little boy among a sea of adults. I ran onto the platform, pushing past those waiting, and less than 10 seconds later, I heard, “Dad.”
My daughter was about 50 yards away, Archie in her arms, a group of about 10 glamorous women and lots of tears. When I arrived the ladies explained that they were going to a show but had seen Chantelle pointing at Archie to get off at the next stop and did what anyone would have done.
The tears flowed for several minutes.
We offered to take the ladies upstairs and buy them all a drink, but they wouldn’t listen to it, saying we would have done the same roles if they had been reversed. We stayed with them, effectively thanking them until they got on the next train, before leaving and getting on a bus, Archie now fully recovered from his ordeal.
I went back to London again recently with my 13 year old nephew who is almost as tall as me. It’s been a long time since he held my hand, but once on the Tube platform, I felt him grab it and hold it tighter than any partner has ever done.