Boston transit workers stop train to save 3-year-old girl’s stuffed bunny

Nummy the bunny is safe and sound, thanks to some kindhearted transit workers in Boston.

Last week, Riley Carey-Brown lived every 3-year-old girl's nightmare: she dropped her favourite stuffed bunny onto the train tracks during rush hour.

Riley, not used to taking the train, had just had a little heart-to-heart with her bunny, Nummy, before the unfortunate incident.

"She was feeling a little bit nervous about the train because it can be loud. She said Nummy was a little scared," Riley's mother, Casey, told the Boston Herald. "They were having a little moment before we got on train."

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As Riley and her parents exited a train, the little girl lost her grip on the bunny and watched it bounce between the train and the platform, landing on the tracks below.

Passengers all gasped in empathy.

Casey told her daughter that she could have a new stuffed rabbit, an idea that didn't console little Riley.

Casey tracked down a T employee, customer service agent Fannie Matchett, who then contacted dispatcher Rhiannon Bernier.

"I really expected her to say: 'No, I'm sorry. It's rush hour. There's nothing that can be done,'" Casey told the Boston Globe. "And, that would be the end of the story."

Bernier told the operator of the incoming train to use "extreme caution" when entering the station:

"I guess a little kid dropped a stuffed animal that's very dear to them. It fell into the pit there on southbound," Bernier told operator Frank Limone. Limone immediately scooped up the toy and left it on the platform for the family.

Casey recounted the story on her blog, Life with Roozle: "The conductor of the next train, in the middle of rush hour, had stopped the train, picked Nummy up and put her back on the platform for us," she wrote.

Riley took Nummy to school with her the next day, holding the animal even tighter than before. Riley and Casey handed cards and bouquets of flowers to each of the three workers who helped save Nummy.

"[Riley] can't stop laughing about it," Casey said. "She told her friends, her teachers at school. She fell asleep talking about it last night."