The Bronx version of Batman and Robin were honored by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. for rescuing a five-year-old who was nearly crushed by a train. Jairo Torres and Antonyo Love, both from Kingsbridge Heights, jumped onto the tracks of the Kingsbridge Road subway station to save five-year-old Ferni Balbuena, who was trapped underneath a southbound 4 train car Monday morning. Balbuena and her dad were both struck by the train, her father died instantly, Balbuena miraculously survived. 

“On behalf of the 1.4 million Bronx New Yorkers, I want to say thank you. It is the true meaning of being a hero. They’re not asking for this attention. They don’t want the spotlight,” Diaz Jr., addressing reporters at the ceremony in Borough Hall, said. “Being a hero is someone who shows an act of bravery and courage. That is exactly what Jairo did. That is exactly Antonyo did in assisting Jairo.”

As most bystanders stood in shock on the platform, Torres noticed the little girl was still alive and sprung into action. Balbuena was about four to five feet into the track, nearly half of an entire subway car beneath, until Torres jumped down and guided her to crawl toward him to safety. 

“People [were] screaming and crying. Between the train and people screaming, I jumped in right away. In my heart I felt the baby [was] still alive,” said Torres. “I [saw] the baby move her hands. When I got her attention I told her to ‘come to me, come like a puppy.’ She started [crawling] like a puppy underneath the train. I am so happy she is good, she is still alive. Thank you God for that,” he added. 

Torres, who is a construction worker, went straight to work following the incident, seemingly unphased by what had happened. His boss had to call him and tell him, ”Jairo you are a hero, you have to go back home. Take the whole week off,” Torres recalled.  

Love, a Tennessee native, was practically at the right place at the right time. He was taking a daily  walk along Jerome Avenue when he overheard the commotion from the subway station up above and ran upstairs to see what was taking place. 

“I owe this man everything. I’m just at a loss for words right now for what I saw, anyways. I suffer from PTSD, so there’s a lot on me right now. I don’t know. I owe it all to him. He’s the hero. I was just there to accompany him, to help him out,” said Love. 

Love mentioned that he had a two-year-old of his own and instantly went to help save the young girl. Unfortunately, as he was helping Torres out, his bag containing medicine and other personal items were stolen. Diaz Jr. urged for the return of the bag.

Torres and Love each received a Citation of Merit for their swift response. “They don’t want the attention, but today what we’re saying is at least as the Bronx we’re going to recognize you, we’re going to applaud, we’re going to celebrate you and thank you,” Diaz Jr. said as both men stood to his side with their plaques. 

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.