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'I Wouldn't Wish It On Anybody': 30-Year NYC Resident Speaks Out After Being Attacked At Union Square Subway Station

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City woman has a complete stranger to thank for jumping in and helping just as she was being stabbed while waiting for the subway Wednesday night.

She sat down in an exclusive TV interview with CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis.

"I wouldn't wish it on anybody," she said.

The 54-year-old woman asked we hide her identity but described the moment she went from standing on the subway platform at the Union Square subway station to being stabbed by a stranger.

"I was just standing there and all of a sudden, I felt an arm reach behind me, almost like somebody who knew me was hugging me," she said. "I felt the impact of something and I screamed several times and then somebody tackled him."

That somebody was Brooklyn resident Sean Conaboy. He was heading home from work Wednesday night when he noticed a man acting suspicious, losing sight of him until he saw the woman get tackled.

"This man was gonna do her serious physical harm and so I just ran toward it," Conaboy said. "I got my forearm under him up against his throat, and he tried to bite me and I pulled his hair back."

He held the man down with the help of others until police came.

The woman, bloody and bruised, was taken to a local hospital.

"I'm very upset about this, but I feel sorry for this person more than anything," she said. "There's something wrong with him to do that."

This attack comes a day after another rider was slashed as the same station.

As of Sunday, the NYPD reports 187 felony assaults in transit. That's up from 142 this time last year.

"The city has to get its act together. This can't continue," Conaboy said.

This reignites calls from the MTA about the need for more police officers and mental health services in the subway system.

This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said more cops are coming.

Meanwhile, the victim, a 30-year city resident, says she plans to ride the subway again.

"I'm not gonna give into a life of fear, but I think it remains to be seen how it will affect me long term ... from a PTSD standpoint," she said.

She's just grateful to know someone had her back.

"He very well may have saved my life. I think he was a hero," she said.

Officers arrested 22-year-old Joshua Nazario at the scene. He was charged with four felony counts, including criminal possession of a weapon.

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