When a toddler fell onto the tracks at one of Milan, Italy’s busiest subway stations, it could’ve ended in tragedy. But 18-year-old Italian student Lorenzo Pianazza who was returning to college after visiting his folks was standing nearby and heroically jumped down to save the boy’s life, getting him up off the tracks just a minute before a train was scheduled to arrive.
CCTV footage from the metro station shows the two-and-a-half-year-old tot stumble down onto the tracks, then the teen jumps down and gets him out of danger, and even has time to find one of the kid’s toys down there.
Milan’s mayor praised Pianazza for saving the toddler, but the teen downplayed his actions. "I'm happy to have done what I thought was right to do and not caused more trouble stepping down on the tracks. The mother of the child has already thanked me, the important thing is that the child is back in her arms, the rest does not matter. I do not even want to imagine what it must feel like to be in [the mother's] situation. They're saying I was brave … I was just ready," he said.