GARDNER, MASS. (WHDH) - A woman is being honored after rushing to help a man whose leg was caught between two rail cars in Gardner.
Police say a man was trying to cross between the cars and got his prosthetic leg stuck in the cables. Jennifer Ringuette stepped in, potentially saving the man’s life.
Mayor Mark P. Hawke called Ringuette a “local hero” and declared Wednesday to be “Jennifer Ringuette Day” in Gardner, in honor of the woman risking her own safety.
“Her actions demonstrate that what sets the City of Gardner apart from other places is its people,” Hawke said. “We are truly a community that cares for each other.”
Ringuette said the incident, which occurred at the railroad tracks on West Broadway over the weekend, happened “so fast” that she wasn’t thinking about putting herself in harm’s way.
“I just wanted to get him free because I wasn’t about to watch a man get run over by a train in front of me,” Ringuette said. “I was there at the right moment at the right time.”
Ringuette will be recognized at a ceremony at the Gardner police station on Sept. 19.
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