By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Mutare – A 23-year-old woman from Mutare narrowly escaped death on Saturday, August 2, after a dramatic and unusual act by a train driver saved her life—using nothing but a water bottle.
Lisa Shumba was walking along a railway track while wearing earphones, completely unaware of an oncoming train. Despite repeated blasts of the train’s horn, she didn’t respond.
According to the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), the train driver, realizing the woman was oblivious to the danger, made a last-ditch effort to alert her. He threw a water bottle at her from the locomotive’s cab.
The bottle landed in front of Shumba, startling her enough to turn around and see the fast-approaching train. She jumped off the tracks just in time but was slightly clipped by the locomotive as it passed. She sustained bruises to her knees and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Fortunately, her injuries were not serious, and she was discharged the same day.
In a public statement, the NRZ hailed the train driver’s quick thinking.
“A 23-year-old woman walking on the tracks putting on earphones escaped death by a whisker after a quick-thinking engineman threw a water bottle at her to alert her of an approaching train in Mutare yesterday,” the organization said.
“Lisa Shumba, startled by the water bottle which fell in front of her, turned and saw the train. The locomotive hit her as she jumped off its direct path. She suffered bruises on her knees. She was treated and discharged from hospital. The heroic act by the engineman saved her life since the earphones had prevented her from hearing the locomotive’s warning horn. We salute the engineman and appeal to members of the public to avoid walking on the railway lines, especially when putting on earphones.”
The NRZ is using the close call as a warning to the public: walking on railway tracks is both illegal and dangerous, especially while wearing headphones that block out warning signals.