Father Shoved Onto Subway Tracks In Unprovoked Attack: 'I Thought I Was Going To Lose My Life'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A father was shoved onto the subway tracks while he waited for the train to work Thursday.
CBS2's Natalie Duddridge spoke exclusively with 25-year-old Raphael Mejias from his Mount Sinai Hospital bed. He described the moment he was pushed around 5 a.m. at the Columbus Circle station.
"This gentleman -- I don't even know who he is -- I see him from the corner of my eyes," Mejias said. "When I went to go throw something in the garbage, he came from behind and pushed me."
He said he fell hard and felt pain.
"I felt when I hit my ribs, my leg and my arm," he said.
His mind immediately went into survival mode for his daughter.
"It was scary, because I thought I was going to lose my life and to not be there for my 6-year-old daughter," he said. "For my 6-year-old daughter to know her father is gone -- I didn't want that to happen."
Mejias hit the tracks so hard he injured his ribs, legs and even his liver. He was able to stand up, and bystanders helped him off the tracks.
"I didn't even know the gentleman that pulled me out. I just know one of the gentlemen stood there and called 911 and stood there until the cops came," he said.
Police said the suspect took off. He's described as 6 feet tall, wearing a gray sweatsuit.
"For him to sit there and just push an innocent person without doing nothing to him, it could happen to me, it could happen to other people," said Mejias.
Mejias will be in the hospital recovery for a few days, while police search for the suspect.
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