By FDNY
NEW YORK — He thought he was going to Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment, but Lt. Luis Corrales ended up saving the life of a man who fell on the subway tracks on Sept. 8.
Lt. Corrales was getting off the E train from Queens at around 10 a.m., transferring to the 6 train at 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, when he heard a woman screaming.
He looked in the direction she was facing and saw a man wobble and lose his balance while walking, then fall head-first onto the subway tracks.
Immediately Lt. Corrales and another Good Samaritan jumped onto the tracks to help the victim.
The man was about 250-pounds of dead weight, so the lieutenant and the other man struggled to get him to the platform. Onlookers were not able to help, due to the depth of the tracks, but the two men were able to slowly hoist him to safety by his belt and pants.
“My only concern was the people [on the platform who were] screaming. I didn’t know if it was because we were on the tracks or because there was a train coming,” said Lt. Corrales, who works out of Station 10, Metropolitan Hospital. “And I didn’t want to look.”
At first, Lt. Corrales said he thought the man was intoxicated because of his mental state, but noticed he was sweaty and dressed as if he was going to work. When he asked the man if he was on any medication, the man was able to answer that he is diabetic.
Once the men secured the victim in the center of the platform, Lt. Corrales said he felt the air from an oncoming train rush into the station. He said, again, “I didn’t even want to look.”
The victim was transported to New York Hospital in stable condition.
“I’ve been in EMS for 20 years and to see something like this, as it happens, is rare,” Lt. Corrales said. “You’re there for the thick of it and don’t have the resources you’d have while on duty. But it’s a good feeling.”
Afterwards, Lt. Corrales found his bag, which he had dropped on the platform when he jumped onto the tracks and rescheduled his doctor’s appointment for the next day.
Republished with permission from FDNY.