By FDNY
NEW YORK — One EMS lieutenant proved on Aug. 22 that saving lives is in his blood.
EMS Lt. Patrick Walker was waiting for the Queens-bound A train at about 2 p.m., after his shift at EMS Operations in Downtown Brooklyn, when he heard someone scream from the opposite platform. He then saw woman in her 20s had jumped onto the tracks and was walking in his direction.
“She seemed somewhat disoriented,” said the 27-year veteran of the EMS Command.
He called to her and tried to guide her to the end of the platform, where he saw stairs she could climb. She was following his directions, yet he said she was somewhat combative.
As she walked toward the stairs, he said he could “see the dim of the train’s lights approaching” through the tunnel.
Knowing he could not lift her to safety on his own, he said he began to assess whether he could get the woman to the stairs in time or he would need to jump onto the tracks and pull her away from the oncoming train.
Then a Good Samaritan approached and said he would help Lt. Walker pull her to the platform. Together they pulled the woman to safety, 10 seconds before the train entered the station.
Yet just as quickly as he arrived, the Good Samaritan disappeared into the crowd.
“I wish he would come forward, because there is no way I could have done it without him,” Lt. Walker said. “If he wasn’t there I don’t know what the outcome would have been.”
Lt. Walker escorted the woman out of the station and called for an ambulance. She was transported to Long Island College Hospital.
“I did what I had to do, and I’d like to think I did what anyone would do, FDNY patch aside,” he said. “It’s nice to have a success story like this. I’m just glad I was able to do something.”