Anthony Perry was gifted a brand new car for saving another man who got stuck on a local train track.
According to news reports, the founder of the anti-violence organization I’m Telling Don’t Shoot, Early Walker, surprised the Chicago resident with a 2009 Audi A8 and a $25 gasoline card on June 8.
“We wanted to literally show our appreciation because we need more people like you. We need more Anthonys in the world,” Walker said at a press conference near the brave man’s grandfather’s home.
At the conference, Perry explained that he performed the heroic act simply because he wanted to “make the situation more peaceful.”
“I don’t think I was really thinking about what I have to do at the moment. It was more of, what do I have to do to make the situation peaceful. I was hoping I could just grab him and not feel [anything], but I felt a little shock. I [kind of] felt it all through my body actually [but] I just didn’t let that stop me.”
The 20-year-old Chicagoan previously jumped onto the tracks and saved an almost unconscious man after getting off the Red Line CTA train at 59th Street on May 30. The victim reportedly tumbled onto the live third rail at the station during a fight when the young hero spotted him. Luckily, Perry managed to pull him to a safe area and gave him CPR. His body was seemingly twitching from electric shock while he rescued the distressed man.
Shortly after the incident, paramedics arrived at the station and took the unidentified man to a nearby hospital, where he was expected to survive.
Chicago police are currently still investigating what exactly led him to fall on the train tracks in the first place.
“So many times people think these young men are out here doing the wrong thing, but this is just a prime example of how a young man took it upon himself to jump in and do the right thing,” Chicago police Lt. Yolanda Irving said.
Perry’s new car comes in handy, as he reportedly had to take a train and two buses to get to his job at Amazon Fresh in Oak Lawn.
