- I was visiting London with my daughter and her 3 year old son Archie.
- In a second, Archie boarded a subway train, while my daughter and I remained standing on the platform.
- The next train was coming in seven minutes and we panicked.
London is a fantastic city with history, parks, good food and drink with an excellent transport system. I was there for the day with Chantelle, my daughter, and Archie, my 3 year old nephew. The unseasonable October sunshine made our walk around Hyde Park very pleasant.
Heading to London Bridge for lunch, we returned to the nearest station, passed the barriers and entered the depths.
Air speed announced reaching pipeChantelle and Archie were right in front of me as we hurried down the steps to Notting Hill Gate. Returning to the platform was already there, the doors open. The midday crowd meant we weren’t going to get that; I was already hooked, waiting for the next one as the doors closed.
Through the noise of commuters and motorbikes, I heard my daughter screaming. The tube began to moveand I saw him walking along, gesturing with his hands. Fighting my way through the crowd, I saw Archie on the train. There was no staff to be seen, no emergency phone on the platform and no phone signal so deep underground. The white body of the carriage disappeared into the tunnel and for a second there was silence.
We hoped he would get off at the next station
Running a few meters towards my daughter, I saw the information board above her head. The next train would be in seven minutes.
Those seven minutes were the longest 97 years of my life.
“We’ll get another one. If you want, I’ll run upstairs and try to find someone to get help?” Even as I was talking, she was shaking her head.
She said there was no point. By the time I got there and called someone for help, the next train would have left. She said she had shown him how to get off the train and that he would wait at the next station. She paused for a second, then said, “I hope so.”
it he seemed remarkably calm.
The thoughts going through my head at that moment weren’t great if I’m honest. Deep down, I know that people are good and a small child alone will almost always be taken care of.
However, although the negative thoughts were strong for both of us, on the outside, my daughter was strength personified.
We boarded a train
Unable to do anything positive except reassure each other that everything would be fine, we hurried to the platform, telling each other that he was already off the train, neither of us knowing if that was the case. . A train passed without stopping. My worst fear was this stop at the next station and Archie panicking when we didn’t get off.
An eternity later, we hopped on a train and took the one minute journey to Holborn station with different carriages to give us a wider search area.
As we walked in, I frantically scanned up and down, looking for a little boy among a sea of adults. I ran onto the platform, pushing past those waiting, and less than 10 seconds later, I heard “Daddy.”
My daughter was about 50 feet away, Archie in her arms, a group of about 10 glamorous women, and lots of tears. When I arrived the ladies explained they were going to a show but had seen Chantelle telling Archie to get off at the next stop and did what anyone would have done.
The tears flowed for several minutes.
We offered to take the ladies upstairs and buy them all a drink, but they wouldn’t hear of it, saying we would have done the same if the roles were reversed. We stayed with them, thanking them profusely until they got on the next train, before they left and got on the bus, Archie now fully recovered from his ordeal.
I recently went to London again with my now 13-year-old nephew, who is almost as tall as me. It’s been a long time since he’s held my hand, but once on the tube platform, I felt him grab it and hold it tighter than any partner.