Victim of New York subway attack fears re-joining train after attack
A 34-year-old woman who sustained a broken leg after being pushed onto a Manhattan subway track told The Post on Wednesday the random attack left her so distraught that she now fears ever to take the train again.
The victim, Wan
“I was already scared to take the train because of this event,” Xu said uncertainly as she recovered from her apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to take the train in the future.”
The frightening, unprovoked attack happened just moments after Xu entered the platform of trains Nos. 1/2/3 just after 11 p.m., the victim and police said.
The married mother-of-one, who was walking home after working at a nearby foot massage parlor, recalled being about a meter from the edge of the platform when she suddenly felt a “great force”.
“It was really terrible because I had no warning at that point,” Xu said. “He suddenly pushed me to the ground from behind with all his strength. I was very shocked.”
After quickly realizing that she could not stand due to her broken leg, Xu began desperately to make sure the train wasn’t headed straight for her.
“I was afraid of the train arriving. I did my best to get out,” she recalled.
As her attacker fled, other straphangers rushed to the woman’s aid and dragged her back onto the platform, law enforcement sources said.
“There were many people next to me and they pulled me out,” Xu said, adding that she had to “endure the pain” when she was lifted off the tracks.
She was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, where doctors confirmed a broken leg, Xu said.
“They scanned my leg at the hospital. The doctor told me it was a fracture. I’m on painkillers now. I can’t lift the leg,” she said, her member bandaged and immobilized.
Xu, who said she doesn’t have health insurance, added that doctors warned her that surgery would be needed to properly rebuild the bone.
“I called the hospital today and they told me I would have to pay all the expenses myself,” the victim said.
Meanwhile, her attacker – thought to be in his 40s – was still at large as of Wednesday, police said.
Xu said she never saw the creep.
“I think this person must be crazy,” she said, adding that police have not yet given her any updated information on the suspect.
In addition to the dirty red sweatshirt, the attacker was also wearing tan work boots, police said, and was described as having light complexion and dark hair.
