Good Samaritans rush to help after taxi pins mother, 9-year-old son in Midtown
HERALD SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A group of good Samaritans jumped into action as Christmas night chaos unfolded in front of them when a taxi plowed into multiple pedestrians in Herald Square.
A 41-year-old mother and her 9-year-old son from Australia were pinned under the vehicle, among the six people injured during the incident in Midtown.
The crash happened just after 4 p.m. in the heart of bustling Herald Square on Christmas Day.
According to the NYPD, a 58-year-old cab driver suffered a medical emergency, apparently a blood pressure issue, when he drove onto the sidewalk at West 34th Street and Sixth Avenue.
"He hit us from behind, hit us from behind. Didn't even know what had happened," said the 41-year-old mother. "I just remember being on the ground and something on top of me, I could hear the wheels screeching and my son screaming next to me."
Witness Ryan Tucker was visiting from Oregon and said his wife was hit in the back on the shoulder by the taxi. He made sure she was OK before he and a group of others stepped in to help -- doing whatever they could when they saw the mother and her 9-year-old child pinned under the taxi.
"I ran over and noticed there was a little boy, his leg was underneath the front passenger tire as it was spinning," Tucker said. "And then there was a group of people. One gentleman went over shut the car off, got into it and shut it off. There was a whole group of us that ripped the fender off, lifted the car back and then that's when I grabbed the little boy, got him to the corner, realized that what ended up being his mom underneath."
The mother, who spoke with Eyewitness News, was visiting from Australia with her husband and 9-year-old son, who just got out of his second surgery on Thursday.
"He broke his right femur. He's got severe - what do you call it - burns on his leg as well," the mother said. "He's going to be in the hospital for quite some time."
The family is now spending the rest of their holiday trip to the city at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
"We were just here for Christmas holidays," she said. "Christmas and New Year's. Day three in the city and that happened."
In addition to the mother and son hurt, a 49-year-old woman was also taken to another hospital for treatment.
Three other women, ages 19, 37 and 49, refused medical attention, police say. Officials say the injuries were non-life-threatening.
The taxi driver was transported to a local hospital and is expected to be OK. Police say no criminality is suspected in the crash.
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