An unknown woman jumped on the tracks of the CTA Green Line from the platform of the Central Avenue stop in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 17.
Witnesses to the incident said she was attempting to take her own life, but the train was stopped before striking the woman.
“She said she wanted to leave this world and that it was time for her to go,” Oak Park resident Terry Harris said.
After falling onto the tracks, the woman stabbed herself with a kitchen knife several times in the chest and leg.
Commuter Larry Durr said he saw her stab herself multiple times and then threw the knife onto the tracks.
Harris said she and another woman on the platform attempted to hold the woman back from jumping, but her shirt ripped and she fell onto the tracks.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt said in a telephone interview that he was notified of the call at 10:27 a.m.
Emergency responders arrived on the scene within minutes and removed her from the tracks.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, Merritt said. He did not have any information on her condition.
A CTA spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
