A good Samaritan is fighting for his life Monday after being struck by a train while rescuing a drunken man who went onto the tracks at a New York City railway station, officials said.
The accident happened at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday at the New Dorp platform of the Staten Island Railway. An intoxicated man dropped his shoe onto the tracks and climbed down to recover it, according to a spokesman with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The good Samaritan, identified as 39-year-old Steven Santiago, intervened when he saw the man struggling, the New York Post reported.
"This good Samaritan apparently went down to assist him, and unfortunately was struck by a train," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz told the Staten Island Advance.
Santiago got the drunken man out of harm's way, but couldn't get himself from the edge in time and was hit by a Tottenville-bound train pulling into the station.
He suffered head trauma and is listed in critical condition at Staten Island University Hospital.
"He is a great man who risked his life to save someone he doesn’t even know," the man's brother, Edwin Santiago, told the New York Daily News.
"He is in a pretty bad shape right now," he said. "I leave it in God’s hands."
Steven Santiago's girlfriend, Marisol Salgado, said he was on his way home from her house when the incident occurred, according to the newspaper.
"He went out at 1, and then I got up at 4 in the morning with cops knocking on my door," Salgado told the Daily News. "He would help anyone in need no matter what."
The drunken man, who police say is 40 years old, escaped serious injury. He is reportedly being treated at the same hospital as Santiago for minor injuries.
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