Student Allegedly Pushed in Front of Oncoming Train for Saying 'No'

donderdag 26 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Ericka Sóuter 3 hours ago

It's one of those freak tragedies that sends chills down your spine. A 21-year-old college student on her daily commute is waiting for a train. While standing on the platform, she has a brief exchange with a homeless man, who allegedly then suddenly pushes her in front of an oncoming train. It's a horrifying crime -- and even more so when you learn what motivated this man's vicious attack.

The man, 39-year-old Howard Mickens, was reportedly angered when young Maya Leggat declined to give him any money. Other would-be passengers immediately went to help, following Mickens and subduing him until police arrived. Fortunately the impact did not kill Legget, but it did leave her legs badly mangled and she suffered a head injury. A family member said she will need several surgeries. It's a miracle that she survived.

It's so dismaying that this girl's life was put in danger simply because she said, "No." According to the New York Post, this man had been loitering at the station and harassing people for months. He even had 11 previous arrests. This is just a horrible reminder that danger can lurk in the most unexpected places. We have to be vigilante about our safety and, sadly, always on the defensive when it comes to strangers.

There seem to be a rash of cases in New York City where a person on their way to work or home is pushed on the tracks by a deranged stranger. It's frightening. For now, Mickens has been charged with attempted homicide. If found guilty, they should lock him up for a very long time.

Do you find this story startling? Or have you heard of a similar incident?

Image via Phillip Capper/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ericka Sóuter

is a veteran pop culture and celeb news writer. That experience boils down to two things: she knows way too much about the Kardashians and she dominates on Trivial Pursuit's arts and entertainment questions.

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Hero Commuters Move 32-Ton Train Off Woman in Amazing Rescue (VIDEO)

dinsdag 23 juli 2013

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by Adriana Velez 3 hours ago

Here's some more happy news that will restore your faith in humanity. Yesterday morning a woman fell in the gap between a train and the platform at a Tokyo-area train station. She was trapped. That's not the happy part -- I'm getting to that. In response, about 40 commuters pushed the 32-ton train, tilting it so they could help the trapped woman out of the tracks. Amazingly, she survived with just minor injuries. And eight minutes later, the train was running again.

Everyone cheered after the woman was rescued.

Don't you love that? I like to believe people would do the same thing in New York City, though I know if that happened, it would be at least 45 minutes before the train was running again. But still, it's great to see how people are willing to go out of their way to help someone in danger.

I think it would have been easy for any of us to see the woman fall and then kind of back up and look for someone else to help. Maybe you would try to find a conductor or a train employee to do something. But instead, people thought to push the train out of the way. They actually thought, "Hey, if we all push as hard as we can, we can move this train!" They immediately recognized this situation as something that would require a group effort -- and they knew it was possible if everyone worked together.

I wonder how often we think that way. Would you have enough faith in your fellow humans to believe you could all work together to solve a problem? Or would you watch this woman fall and think, "Well, there's nothing I can do." I wonder how many other problems we encounter that look too big for one person to solve alone pass us by just because it never occurred to us to organize a group effort.

If you had been there, would it have occurred to you to get everyone to push the train out of the way?

Image via CNN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.  

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