Blind man, guide dog survive being run over by subway cars
Dec 17, 2013 17:22:52 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Dec 17, 2013 17:22:52 GMT -5
Blind man, guide dog survive being run over by subway cars
By Kevin Fasick, Daniel Prendergast and Rebecca Harshbarger
December 17, 2013 | 11:44am
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Cecil Williams pets Orlando in his hospital bed on Tuesday after his fall. Photo: AP
Police with Cecil Williams’ seeing-eye dog, Orlando, outside the subway station.Photo: Robert Miller
A blind man tumbled onto the subway tracks in Harlem on Tuesday, and his brave seeing eye dog leaped after him — with both surviving two subway cars roll over them, according to witnesses.
Ana Quinones, 53, of Morningside Heights said Cecil Williams, 60, was standing too close to the edge of the uptown A train platform shortly before 9:35 a.m. at the 125th Street station– and his black Labrador, Orlando, tried to bring him to safety.
“The dog was trying to pull him away from the southbound edge of the platform, but his feet were on the edge, he was wobbling, and the dog was barking,” she said.
The man still fell — and Quinones said Orlando jumped after him.
“But there was nothing he could do once he was down there. He just sat there with the man. He just licked the man’s face trying to get him to move,” she said.
About 15 seconds later, she said the uptown A came into the station– and the motorman slammed on his brakes, according to cops.
One witness said when the train approached, the man scooted in the middle where it was deeper, and the train went over him and the dog.
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Firefighters load Williams the blind man who fell onto the subway tracks into an ambulance.Photo: Robert Miller
Cops said the two were slightly struck by the train, but not seriously hurt.
FIT student Ashley Prenza, 18, said all the riders had been shouting, and couldn’t look at the tracks when the train started to come in.
“Everyone was screaming, everyone was shaking in horror. We heard someone on the other side scream he’s fine, he’s alive!” she said. “It was a big relief for everyone.”
The scene was quickly crowded with MTA workers, firefighters, medics, and transit cops. “They took the dog out first,” said Prenza, who said the man was then slid out from beneath the track and the train.
“We saw his chest moving,” she said. “His face was really bloody.”
Williams was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in stable condition, according to cops. A law-enforcement source he lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.
Full service on the A, B, and D has since resumed, according to an MTA spokeswoman.
link
By Kevin Fasick, Daniel Prendergast and Rebecca Harshbarger
December 17, 2013 | 11:44am
Modal Trigger
Cecil Williams pets Orlando in his hospital bed on Tuesday after his fall. Photo: AP
Police with Cecil Williams’ seeing-eye dog, Orlando, outside the subway station.Photo: Robert Miller
A blind man tumbled onto the subway tracks in Harlem on Tuesday, and his brave seeing eye dog leaped after him — with both surviving two subway cars roll over them, according to witnesses.
Ana Quinones, 53, of Morningside Heights said Cecil Williams, 60, was standing too close to the edge of the uptown A train platform shortly before 9:35 a.m. at the 125th Street station– and his black Labrador, Orlando, tried to bring him to safety.
“The dog was trying to pull him away from the southbound edge of the platform, but his feet were on the edge, he was wobbling, and the dog was barking,” she said.
The man still fell — and Quinones said Orlando jumped after him.
“But there was nothing he could do once he was down there. He just sat there with the man. He just licked the man’s face trying to get him to move,” she said.
About 15 seconds later, she said the uptown A came into the station– and the motorman slammed on his brakes, according to cops.
One witness said when the train approached, the man scooted in the middle where it was deeper, and the train went over him and the dog.
Modal Trigger
Firefighters load Williams the blind man who fell onto the subway tracks into an ambulance.Photo: Robert Miller
Cops said the two were slightly struck by the train, but not seriously hurt.
FIT student Ashley Prenza, 18, said all the riders had been shouting, and couldn’t look at the tracks when the train started to come in.
“Everyone was screaming, everyone was shaking in horror. We heard someone on the other side scream he’s fine, he’s alive!” she said. “It was a big relief for everyone.”
The scene was quickly crowded with MTA workers, firefighters, medics, and transit cops. “They took the dog out first,” said Prenza, who said the man was then slid out from beneath the track and the train.
“We saw his chest moving,” she said. “His face was really bloody.”
Williams was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in stable condition, according to cops. A law-enforcement source he lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.
Full service on the A, B, and D has since resumed, according to an MTA spokeswoman.
link
