A Toronto city councillor jumped from a moving car to join a dramatic rescue when he saw a woman dangling from a busy overpass Friday night.
Coun. Mark Grimes (Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore) was a passenger in a car crossing a bridge over the Gardiner Expressway, at Islington Avenue, during rush hour when he saw two women trying to save a third woman dangling from the bridge.
"I reached down and grabbed her by her belt and shirt at her neck and we flipped her right over. I had something really good to grab on to, thank God," Grimes told CTV News on Saturday. "But she was slipping. She was going down, down. It was something right out of a ‘Diehard' movie."
Vashti King and Arwen Atkinson were driving by when they saw a woman trying to jump. Traffic had ground to a halt below when King and Atkinson reached the woman and grabbed her hands.
"I said stop the car and I flung open my door and ran over just as this woman was holding on, just dangling form this railing," said King. "I grabbed her arms just as she let go and I started screaming, ‘Come and help, come and help.'"
King said that they were about to lose their grip when Grimes ran up and pulled her to safety.
"Mark actually jumped out of the car while it was still moving. By the time I had come to a complete stop he had ran back to the two girls holding the other girl," said friend Jim Surphlis.
Witnesses said the scene was like something from a movie, with Grimes reaching the scene with seconds to spare.
"He ended up grabbing her by the belt, flipped her over and saved her. It was like Superman," said a witness named Marlene.
Grimes said that King and Atkinson were the real heroes of the story. Without them, the woman would have fallen to the road below.
He said he will be recommending King and Atkinson for a civilian citation.
Grimes told CTV News that he checked on the woman in hospital on Saturday and that she is doing well. Her family has been notified.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Markson
