Man loses consciousness and falls onto NYC subway track

Everyone made it to safety, eliciting cheers from the onlookers at the station

A man who passed out and fell onto subway tracks in New York City was rescued by an NYPD officer and a good Samaritan moments before a subway train arrived at the station.

The incident occurred at a subway station in the Bronx when a visitor fell ill and passed out onto the train tracks. An NYPD transit officer jumped onto the tracks to help move the man as bystanders stood nearby to help and to watch for the oncoming train.

A good Samaritan also jumped onto the tracks to help the NYPD officer lift the passed-out individual to safety.

Everyone made it onto the platform and out of the path of the train, which arrived shortly after. Onlookers cheered once the rescue was complete.

Kathleen O'Reilly, the NYPD chief of transit, posted a video of the rescue on Twitter and congratulated her officers for the save.

"That's officers Lopez, Peguero, Sugrim and Caban-Bailon from District 12 working as a team to flag the train and get the man to safety. Thank you to everyone who assisted!" she wrote.

NYPD officers had to leap onto subway tracks in May to save another person who had a seizure and fell onto the tracks.

When compared to the number of people who travel on the subway each year – roughly 640 million riders – collisions between trains and people are rare.

In 2020, the MTA reported 169 collisions between people and trains, 63 of which were fatal. In 2019 the number of deadly collisions was 62.

Some of the collisions are acts of suicide, while others are accidents.

Despite the rarity of the incidents, the numbers have increased over the past five years. MTA and the Transport Workers Union believe the increase is indicative of worsening mental health conditions among Americans.

This year, the MTA has reported at least 24 fatal strikes by subway trains.