5A Un Chun To Ernie
An unforgettable experience
Ben is my best friend at school. However, very often, I feel that I am inferior to him because not only is he good at sports, his academic performance is also outstanding. I have never imagined that I could have saved his life.
One month ago, Ben and I finished our basketball team practice and went home together at 9 o’clock at night. Since we lived quite close to each other, we took the MTR together to go home. There were still quite a number of people on the platform and it was quiet. Nearly all the people waiting for the train were looking at their smartphones. I wondered why people nowadays spent so much time on the small device but not talking with their friends and family face to face
Ben and I entered a train compartment. I stood just next to the door. And Ben sat down on the seat near me. He had been burning the midnight oil last night to do revision and felt very tired. He would like to take a nap as our trip on the MTR would last for about 20 minutes. There were only a few passengers in the compartment and most of them were playing with their phones or sleeping. The quiet atmosphere made me feel sleepy too even though I was standing beside the door. While the train was passing through the tunnel at Lam Tin Station, I smelt something strange. I turned round and took a look. I felt very frightened because I saw some smoke coming from the door. I shook Ben’s shoulders to wake him up. Both of us were at a loss and tried to think of the solution. However, most of the passengers had little awareness of what was happening around them.
“Smoke! Cover your mouth and nose with your handkerchiefs or tissues.” My shouting alarmed the passengers.
Some passengers started to scream in fear and they could not keep calm. Some tried to stand up to look for ways to escape.
I coughed because of the smoke and tried to find the emergency button. Yet, the view became blurry and I could only see the vague outline of the box containing it. Stretching out the hand to feel my way, I could reach the button finally and pulled it down. The train stopped suddenly and many passengers who were standing lost their balance. A mother holding a baby was falling down on a handrail. I tried to use my body to protect the baby I bumped my head onto the handrail and lost consciousness in the train carriage.
When I woke up, I was lying on the bed in hospital. Ben was sitting beside me and looked worried. It seemed he felt much relieved seeing me regain my consciousness. Later, he told me that there was a technical problem about the train and a fire would have broken out if I had not informed the driver about the smoke in time. All passengers were safe now. I still felt the pain on my head but I did not mind the minor sacrifice when I knew that all the passengers, including my best friend, Ben, and the baby were safe.