A Welsh woman has been reunited with the stranger who saved her life when she fell on a London Underground track. Tegan Badham from Cwmbran had just seconds to spare as she was pulled to safety by Anthony Smith on the platform at King's Cross.
The pair appear on Reunion Hotel, a BBC Two series which gives people a chance to reunite with someone pivotal from their past. Before being brought together at Iscoyd Park, a luxurious hotel near Wrexham, Tegan had not had the chance to thank the 31-year-old hotel developer.
The near-miss came last year when Tegan, a 22-year-old beautician, visited London with friends. She told presenter Alex Jones: "I was trying to go to the Wireless Festival to see Nicki Minaj and I was waiting for the train. Silly me, I stumbled and I kept stumbling and stumbling. Then I was on the tracks. When I got up there was a bar so I got my hands on it as I was trying to push myself up. But as I do that the electricity goes through me. It was like when you've got cramp in your leg and it really hurts. Imagine that in your whole body. And because it's so strong you can't take your hands off it. The current just kept going through me.
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"I could hear people shouting: 'The train's coming, the train's coming.' It was crazy. When I saw the lights [of the approaching train] I looked at [Anthony] because I didn't want to see that. He was on the platform. I just remember him saying: 'Give me a hand.' For a split-second the current stopped – I don't know why it stopped – but I got one hand up and obviously the gentleman pulled me up."
Tegan was in tears on the platform and by the time she composed herself Anthony was on the train which moments earlier had nearly struck her. She said: "When I spoke to paramedics they said if I didn't have rubber boots on I probably would have died. If there was no rubber [the electricity] would have come back up and gone into the brain."
She put out a social media appeal to find her mystery saviour and Reunion Hotel tracked down Anthony, an Australian who lives in Camden. Tegan said she was a "bundle of anxiety" before their reunion but the programme shows them sharing a warm hug and laughing about their experience. Anthony told her: "The first thing you said to me when I pulled you up was: 'Get my phone.' I was like: 'Mate, there's a train on top of your phone right now – there are some logistical problems with me fetching it for you.'"
Afterwards Anthony said: "It was very strange to meet someone in that position but I think that's what makes it nice as well. It makes you feel like you've had an impact on someone's life in a significant, positive way."
Tegan said she "laughed the whole way through" the reunion, adding: "He's an absolutely amazing guy." The show revealed she has no intention of travelling on the London Underground again but she has formed a friendship with Anthony.
Speaking about the Tube incident, which left her needing hospital treatment for burns and a back injury, Tegan said: "I've had plenty of nightmares from it. I don't think it's hit me yet. When something's that traumatic you don't want to think about it, do you?"
Reunion Hotel airs at 8pm on Thursday, April 6, on BBC Two, BBC One Wales, and iPlayer. You can read more of the latest TV news here.
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