Injured Man Climbs Off Of Upper East Side Subway Tracks With Seconds To Spare
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A frightening scene played out on the tracks of an Upper East Side subway station when a straphanger's life was on the line with just seconds to spare.
As CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported, he was saved by other passengers.
Dramatic images show an injured, bloody, but lucky man just moments after he fell onto the subway tracks at the 86th Street station at Lexington Avenue.
Somehow he managed to pull himself to safety as an arriving train was bearing down on him.
"People were yelling and screaming. It was definitely scary," Geoffrey Croft said.
Croft witnessed the dramatic scene Monday night, during rush hour and took photos of paramedics and volunteers coming to the man's aid in the aftermath.
He said it was a miracle the man is still alive.
Croft said the man was waiting on the platform when suddenly he fell violently onto the tracks.
"He fell on the tracks really hard. He had a huge bruise right here, bleeding from here, multiple lacerations," Croft said.
As an arriving train was heading down the tracks toward the man, Croft said others on the platform frantically waved their hands at the train, trying to get the attention of the conductor.
"They actually stopped the train. They put up their hands. There was no way the conductor could have seen what was going on on the platform," Croft said.
As this was happening, the man was able to pull himself off the tracks and up the the platform.
"He just lifted himself up. He lifted himself up over, and he was a mess," Croft explained.
Croft said the man was immediately surrounded by good Samaritans who tried to comfort him, then paramedics, and police.
CBS2 has been told he was taken to a hospital on a stretcher, banged up, but alive after cheating death on the tracks.