MANHATTAN, New York — A woman was struck by a black Mercedes-Benz sports utility vehicle on the Lower East Side and became trapped under the vehicle. Dozens of on-lookers raced across the busy intersection at Delancy and Norfolk to help lift the SUV off of the ground and pull the victim to safety. The amazing feat of cooperation and concern for one’s fellow citizen was captured on a cell phone video and posted in an article appearing in the New York Post. First responders raced to the scene and administered first aid. EMS brought her to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.
Around 5:10 p.m., FDNY received what it described as a trauma call at the intersection of Delancy and Norfolk Streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. What sounded like a routine call from the FDNY’s perspective was anything but ordinary. Cellphone video captured by a person walking on the opposite side of the intersection shows a person lying on the ground trapped in the space between the street surface and the undercarriage of the SUV.
The videographer turned on his cellphone video after hearing the collision between the pedestrian and the SUV. The incident appeared to take place in a crosswalk, according to the video. However, there was no information about who had the light or where the precise location of the collision took place.
As the video rolls, ordinary citizens may be heard yelling and then seen running to aid the distressed woman. At least twelve people gather around the SUV and lift the driver’s side wheels off of the ground. Once people were able to do that, others slid the woman to safety, and then the Good Samaritans gently returned the SUV to all four wheels.
The SUV appeared to stay in the intersection as first responders arrived. Another photo taken of the scene shows the injured woman after EMS fitted her with a cervical collar, holding up her cell phone as if it appears she was sending a text message.
