"He might have fell before it actually came out, and then in pushed and crushed him," said Mike Day.
Pinned between the subway car and the movable platform, 41-year old Michael Dion was trapped.
The unbearable pressure from the hydraulic platform made him cry out in pain.
"People rushed from the train and tried to pull on him and help but he was screaming," said Dion.
Day captured the drama with pictures as Dion was trapped from the waist down.
The dramatic efforts to rescue Dion unfolded on the #4 downtown express where the tracks take a sharp curve through the Union Square station.
A series of movable platforms help to cover a larger than normal gap to the train car.
The platforms are so much a safety concern; announcements are made continuously warning straphangers not to stand on the moving grates.
Somehow, Dion fell into the opening as the platform began closing against him. Someone even tried to force a large box to keep the platform from extending.
By some estimates, it took 30 minutes to free Michael Dion from this unimaginable hell.
---
Do you have something to add to this story? Click here to contact Eyewitness News.
