Stranger Rescues Man In Wheelchair Who Fell Onto Subway Tracks Moments Before Train Arrives
There's nothing New Yorkers can't do.
Christian Mueller / Shutterstock / YouTube In a heart-warming moment of camaraderie and heroism in New York City, a man saved a stranger using a wheelchair from subway tracks moments before a train arrived.
On Wednesday, at the 14th Street Subway Station at Union Square in Manhattan, the ordinary hero hauled the man to safety, while risking his own life.
The now viral video shows bystanders saving a man whose fell in his wheelchair onto the tracks of a NYC subway.
The good Samaritan wasn’t alone as other commuters jumped in to help pull the man up onto the platform as one bystander recorded it all on his cellphone.
What happened to the man who was rescued from the subway track?
According to reports, the police say the incident occurred around 1:30 pm on Wednesday.
The man who fell on the tracks underwent a medical examination at Bellevue hospital where he was reported conscious, alert, and in stable condition.
Neither the Samaritan nor the man who fell have been identified, but thanks to the heroic moment, the train missed the pair by roughly 10 seconds.
This man was incredibly lucky that the Samaritan had the guts to jump down and save him because, often, wheelchair users are often refused help in everyday situations.
One witness says she hopes the incident is a positive lesson.
Lauren Mennen, who recorded the incident, said, “I hope people just take positivity away from all this” when asked about her decision to record instead of joining in to help.
People who viewed the video branded the good Samaritan a hero, like the witness and were uplifted by his instinct to help the man who fell.
“One man jumped right into action. He didn’t think twice whether he was going to go on those tracks,” Mennen said. “I was like, people need this. There’s heroes in action and I was like I’m going to wave my hand at the train and it will all be good.”
Subway stations aren't typically accessible for people with some disabilities.
While most people celebrated the moment, one Twitter user pointed out that this video may prove the need for more safety measures in place to protect wheelchair users on the subway.
Only 1/4 of subway stations are wheelchair accessible in New York City, but the bus systems are entirely free to those who are disabled to use. These wheelchair-accessible stations lie mostly in Manhattan.
Additionally, wheelchair-accessible elevators at these stations are often broken, eliminating the accessibility needed for these commuters.
In 2018, the Federal Transit Administration rated the New York City subways as having the lowest rate of wheelchair accessibility of any major transport system worldwide.
Ciara Litchfield is a writer who works on entertainment and human interest stories with a special emphasis on feel good news.