An Incident That Transformed My Perspective: My Train Derailed – and afterward I Overheard a Little Girl Weeping.

That instant I knew the end was near occurred in my 20s, when life was really just starting out. My best friend, Helen, and I were on our way to Blackburn to reunite with a friend from college who had made a new home there for work. Delighted to be together, and basking in the prospect of the social gathering to come, we chatted nonstop as we traveled by train from York.

We stashed our bags – packed with necessities such as our favorite wines and the clogs I had just bought – in the storage compartment and settled down in a cosy two-seater. Approximately 50 minutes after starting our journey, I was vaguely conscious of a bang. This was followed by a second, now unmistakable. A woman screamed as our carriage was lifted off the tracks in what felt like a dreamlike pace. In an instant, Helen and I were upright in the middle of the aisle, clinging to one another. With my head lowered, vision blocked, I expected the carriage to overturn and ignite, similar to cinematic scenes. I recall pondering our families and friends getting the news. That's when the sound of the child sobbing.

“Everything is okay,” I said softly, speaking with a rasp. “It’s all over,” I whispered, primarily to calm my own nerves.

She appeared to be seven or eight, and looked like she had no guardian. Her crying shook me out of my trance; now I could do something meaningful. I made my way to where she was standing and wrapped an arm around her. “Avoid looking back,” Helen called out, too late. I glimpsed a man whose face was bloody. A huge metal object had penetrated the window behind us. Subsequently, we found out a runaway digger had descended the slope and smashed into our carriage, causing us to derail.

Our compartment was trapped with its leading section elevated. Following that came of sirens and a fellow passenger requested that I to give the girl to him so he could assist her exit through the opening, as kids were being rescued to waiting firefighters. Not long afterward, Helen and I were likewise scrambling out of the train window and descending via a ladder on to the track.

Once back on solid ground – beside a freight warehouse in Pudsey – my body started to shake uncontrollably. I searched for the little girl and observed her being embraced by her mother, as it transpired had been in the toilet during the incident. An emergency worker helpfully fetched my clogs. One of the passengers plonked down on Helen’s case, resulting in it breaking open – but, by good fortune our wine remained intact. Following a 30-minute delay, we proceeded in a free cab to Blackburn, with a teenage boy and the lady who had caused the luggage to burst. Our host was there, visibly shaken. She knew there had been a derailment and a railway official had escorted her to an office and made her a cup of tea while she waited for news.

Displaying the fearlessness of young adulthood, we put the train crash to one side and proceeded with the social outing, which included a memorable turn by Blackburn drag queen Clitheroe Kate. Not a single life was lost in the incident, despite the fact that several people required hospital treatment. Helen and I got away with bruises and general soreness from the violent forward motion in the carriage. The locomotive was decelerating to enter Leeds station, which had been the primary reason in averting grave physical damage. Since nobody was badly hurt helped not to dwell on the “what ifs” but the child was the one who changed my outlook profoundly. Attending to her and calming her down shifted my focus outward and taught me the importance of focusing on others in a crisis. As time passed, I have repeatedly asked myself if she recalled any details, and how big a deal it had been for her.

Helen and I have stayed close for over 30 years and Pudsey has become shorthand for our ability to cope any situation, so long as we are together. Her presence that fateful day gave me the impression I was shielded against the worst of the situation. The accident additionally altered my method of handling different emergencies, giving me perspective – and serving as a reminder that, no matter how dire circumstances appear, it is always a privilege to grow older.