Photograph of the 116th station by edEx on Flickr
The man who fell into the uptown tracks at the 116th Street subway station - and was saved by a Columbia maintenance worker who saw him from the downtown side and crossed the tracks - has finally spoken out. The 46-year-old NJ resident relayed his message to rescuer Veeramuthu Kalimuthu, via the Daily News, "Thank you for saving my life. I came less than 60 seconds from being run over."
Daniel, who did not want his last name revealed "because he is a recovering alcoholic," said that though he was drunk when he fell off the platform on March 14, he was headed to detox:
"I was on my way to St. Luke's anyway, to get treatment," he said. "I just didn't plan on getting there in a stretcher."
He doesn't remember much of the incident because he was semiconscious.
"The last thing I remember is reaching down for a quarter," he said. "It was very frightening, and very dirty. All my clothes were black."
Daniel, who has fractured riv, cocyx and vertebrae, said "I'm not in any position to actually meet anybody right now. I'm in terrible pain, the worst pain I've ever been in my life. I would eventually like to meet this man and thank him."
Kalimuthu, who jumped down, crossed over to the uptown tracks, lifted Daniel to someone else on the platform, and then crossed the tracks again to make his downtown train, had explained his selfless actions thusly, "People should help people. If all of us get along well in this world then we'll get a better world to live."
