The German soldier who intervened on behalf of 36-year-old Serkan Çalar, the ticket inspector in Germany who died two days after being attacked by a passenger, has spoken to the media, using only his first name, Leon. 

As Remix News reported previously, a 26-year-old Greek national violently assaulted Serkan Çalar for trying to get him to leave the train after not being able to present a ticket. 

Now, the soldier who intervened, a 23-year-old corporal who reportedly jumped up as the conductor was assaulted, has told T-Online, cited by  Die Welt, that he had tried to save the 36-year-old’s life. “I was 100 percent hopeful that he would survive.” 

Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla even thanked him on LinkedIn after the incident.

Leon was on his way to his barracks in Zweibrücken on Monday evening, where he serves in a paratrooper regiment. He said he was sitting two or three rows behind the 26-year-old fare dodger and had a “close view” of what was happening. 

The man was “very aggressive from the start,” looked well-trained, and said “that he had martial arts experience.”

After the fare dodger was threatened with the police and removal from the train over not having a ticket, Leon says the situation escalated. “The perpetrator landed several blows, deliberately aiming for the conductor’s head. The conductor then collapsed—directly into the lap of a young woman,” he said, adding that he counted at least three blows.

Leon then rushed to the injured man and yelled out for assistance. Together with another man, he placed the train conductor in the recovery position. “He still had a pulse. I stayed with him the whole time.” Leon said he was not afraid, but that he had “never experienced a situation like this in my life.”

Shortly before the train entered Homburg station, the conductor’s condition deteriorated. “He suddenly had no pulse. His eyes opened. He wasn’t breathing.” Leon wanted to begin resuscitation efforts, “but then the police arrived.” 

It wasn’t until he received the news of the man’s death two days later that he “truly grasped” what had happened. “It was an absolute shock,” he told T-Online.

The 36-year-old railway employee later died in a hospital from a brain hemorrhage. The 26-year-old Greek suspect is in custody on suspicion of manslaughter.

Tragically, the father of Çalar experienced a heart attack, which he survived with medical treatment, upon hearing that his son passed away. Çalar leaves behind two young children.

“He was also currently engaged and was looking forward to their future together and the planned wedding with his fiancée. The loss is immeasurably heavy,” the lawyers on behalf of the family said.