Woman pushed onto subway tracks at Chambers Street station says she cannot afford surgery for fractured leg
NEW YORK -- The woman injured when she was pushed onto the tracks at the Chambers Street subway station says she cannot afford surgery she now needs and that she's afraid to take public transportation again.
Xu Yanan, 34, moved from overseas and had only been living in New York City for a few months when a stranger pushed her over the edge of the subway platform and fractured her leg on Tuesday.
"I was standing on the platform, more than 1 meter away from the track. I flew directly to the tracks and then my mind gets foggy. I tried three times to stand up, but I could not stand," Yanan told CBS New York through a translator app.
Yanan, who lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, said she's grateful for the good Samaritans who pulled her up to safety.
"They helped me find an ambulance and gave me a second chance at life," she said.
Police arrested 41-year-old Samuel Junker on Thursday and charged him with felony assault. Before Junker's arrest, police said there were no indications that it was a bias crime and no motive was known.
- Read more: Woman pushed onto subway tracks in unprovoked attack at Chambers Street station in Manhattan
"He came up to her and just pushed her onto the tracks," said David Wordell, who knows Yanan. "It was unprovoked. No reason. So we're trying to get to the bottom of it."
"I used to think that the subway will be relatively safe, but now there is a dark shadow around it," said Yanan.
Paramedics took Yanan to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where doctors took an X-ray that revealed the leg fracture, she told us.
"My leg has been fractured and I need minor surgery," said Yanan. "I am making an appointment, but I need to bear all these costs and I don't like that because I don't have insurance."
We asked Yanan if this changed how she feels about living in New York City and America.
"Especially walking and in places of transportation, I will be guarded. But I believe America is a blessing, and I still want to live here," said Yanan. "I believe the government and police will solve it."