Woman, 22, is reunited with hero stranger who saved her life when he rescued her from tube tracks

A woman has been reunited with the heroic stranger who saved her life when he rescued her after she fell onto the tracks in the London Underground. 

Tegan Badham, who hails from Cwmbran in south Wales, was in the British capital to attend Wireless Festival on Sunday, July 10, 2022, when she tripped onto the tracks at King’s Cross St Pancras and was electrocuted.

The 22-year-old suffered burns on her back in the incident and was certain she was going to die as she struggled to get back up while the next train approached. 

But she was saved thanks to kind bystander, Anthony Smith, who lifted her off the tracks with seconds to spare as the train entered the platform. 

Beautician Tegan and Australian Anthony, who now lives in North London, are reunited for the first time in emotional scenes on BBC series Reunion Hotel, airing on Thursday 6 April at 8pm on BBC Two, BBC One Wales and iPlayer.

‘I had been desperate to find him afterwards but leading up to the meeting, I was so nervous. I knew whatever I said would never be enough to thank him for what he’d done for me,’ Tegan admits in the programme, according to The Mirror.

Tegan and her family put out an online appeal to try to track down her saviour, and after BBC producers helped, the pair were introduced to one another by TV presenter Alex Jones at Iscoyd Park hotel in north Wales. 

‘I can’t go through my days without not thanking him for doing such a heroic thing,’ says Tegan, reported the BBC. ‘If he wasn’t there… I would be dead.’

However, Anthony tells Tegan on the show: ‘I wouldn’t call myself a hero. I just saw you in there and thought “person in hole, get person out of hole otherwise train is coming”.’

Recalling the moment she suffered her burns, Tegan says: ‘It was the strangest, most terrifying sensation… I was stuck to the current. Then I heard people screaming that a train was coming.

‘I looked down the tunnel and saw the reflection of the train lights and then turned to see a man on the platform with his hand outstretched.’

After the hotel developer, 31, pulled Tegan from the tracks, she was helped by security and station staff before paramedics then took her to London’s St Thomas’ Hospital for treatment to her electric burns.

Anthony – who was on a night out with his friends – left her with the professionals and got on his train.

Tegan Badham, who hails from Cwmbran in south Wales, was in the British capital to attend Wireless Festival on Sunday, July 10, 2022, when she tripped onto the tracks at King’s Cross St Pancras and was electrocuted

But he admits: ‘I regret leaving because it makes no sense from a first aid point of view or a human-to-human point of view – you should stay with someone who has just had an incident like that.’

Speaking to The Sun previously, Tegan said on finding her hero stranger: ‘I just have to find him, he saved my life. I was too shocked to thank him and he was catching the train that came into the station.

‘I was so lucky that he bravely reached down to me, without him I would be dead now.’

The accident happened about 6pm, Tegan said. She said she was heading for the Victoria Line from King’s Cross to travel to Finsbury Park where the festival was taking place.

‘I just tripped,’ she told Wales Online.  ‘I can’t even tell you how or what happened, I can’t even remember getting onto the track, I just remember coming around and being like “Oh my Gosh, I’m on the track, what am I going to do?”‘

As Tegan attempted to recover herself she suffered burns on several different parts of her body. 

The 22-year-old suffered burns on her back in the incident and was certain she was going to die as she struggled to get back up while the next train approached

‘The worst ones were on my leg and my back,’ she added. ‘Thankfully, that man just grabbed me. If he hadn’t grabbed me I honestly would not be here.

‘My eyes were just flashing before my life. When I got out I just kept my eyes shut because I was freaking out. I just sat on the floor and kept quiet because I had no idea what was going on.’

She claimed the thick rubber-soled boots she was wearing might have helped save her from even worse burns, and the incident has given her a new view on life. 

‘I’m moving really well now, obviously the first week my back was killing but now I can actually move my hands and put my clothes on myself,’ she said.  ‘I think I’ve got a new outlook on life now, I’m just enjoying myself.’

A TfL spokesperson said at the time: ‘We are sorry to hear that a customer at King’s Cross St Pancras station sustained minor injuries after a fall onto the Victoria line track and would like to thank those who helped her. 

‘We wish her a full and quick recovery and want to reassure customers that their safety is paramount to TfL.’