![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Harris-Waverly.jpg\" "\\"Harris,")
Suicide by rail is no stranger to operators of steel-wheel trollies on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority\u2019s Victory Division in suburban Philadelphia.<\/p>\nSuicide by rail is no stranger to operators of steel-wheel trollies on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority\u2019s Victory Division in suburban Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
UTU-represented members of this SEPTA property recall having to plead with management to replace the front facing of a trolley displaying a macabre embedded facial image of a man who chose to end his life in front of a moving trolley.<\/p>\n
For trolley operator Waverly Harris, the horror of an attempted suicide Feb. 11 changed his own life forever. Harris, 42, with 19 years\u2019 service, is the property\u2019s general chairperson and chairperson of the UTU\u2019s Association of General Chairpersons, District 3.<\/p>\n
The time of the incident was 3:40 a.m., and for months following, Harris habitually awakened minutes before that position on the clock, staring until \u201c3:40\u201d appeared.<\/p>\n
It was at just prior to 3:40 a.m., Feb. 11, as snow and sleet fell, that Harris was operating an empty trolley whose purpose was to keep the catenary free of accumulated ice. Abruptly, unexpectedly and frighteningly, the trolley headlight captured an individual standing \u2013 then racing \u2013 down an embankment toward the tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI laid on the horn,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if he was being chased. He kept running toward the tracks. I braked. He looked me in the face as I put the trolley into emergency and he faded from view, underneath my trolley.\u201d The man, trapped beneath the trolley, was still alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked, \u2018What time is it?\u2019 It was 3:40 a.m. I came to learn from my grief counselor [provided by SEPTA] that the two most common comments made [by those grievously injured in such incidents] are, \u2018What time is it?\u2019 and \u2018Where am I?\u2019<\/p>\n
It took 90 minutes for emergency crews to free the man, who survived. The steel wheels had not run over him.<\/p>\n
For Harris, the ordeal was far from over. For several months, he met regularly with a grief counselor to talk through the incident and overcome mental anguish, even though there was nothing Harris could have done to prevent it.<\/p>\n
Harris returned to work in May, thankful for the counseling and support of his wife and three children. \u201cI still awaken, occasionally, just before 3:40 a.m.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If anything positive emerged, it is Harris\u2019 ability now to counsel other SEPTA trolley and bus operators who, unfortunately, will experience similar incidents \u2013 and they occur several times annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cI now know the mental stress, and I will tell them to stick with the counseling provided by SEPTA, not to be judgmental, and accept the support of their UTU brothers and sisters, their family and friends,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Suicide by rail is no stranger to operators of steel-wheel trollies on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority\u2019s Victory Division in suburban Philadelphia. UTU-represented members of this SEPTA property recall having to plead with management to replace the front facing of a trolley displaying a macabre embedded facial image of a man who chose to end his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":9,"featured_media":17097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,300,9,18],"tags":[1631,1632,1633,1476],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n