Off-Duty Firefighter Rescues Man from Subway Tracks

Engine 10 responding to a fire in Lower Manhattan in 2004

If anyone ever asks Firefighter Adam Rivera what he did on his anniversary with his girlfriend this year, there’s no doubt he’ll remember every detail.

The off-duty firefighter from Engine 10 and his girlfriend had just finished dinner at a Manhattan restaurant on Aug. 21 and were standing on the uptown N train platform at about 10 p.m., when Firefighter Rivera noticed a commotion across the tracks.

He said he moved down the platform and saw a man laying on his back on the downtown tracks, not moving, as the train approached. Onlookers were panicked, but nobody was moving to help the man.

Firefighter Rivera knew he had to help, and without hesitation he jumped onto the tracks.

“The last vague thought I had was, ‘This could go really bad, and I can’t stand here and watch,’” he said. “I had to do something. I would have felt much worse standing there.”

He crossed the uptown and downtown tracks -- including the electrified the third rail -- to reach the unconscious man.

As he put his hands under the victim’s arms, two other civilian men jumped down and grabbed the man’s legs.

He said he was happy to see the incoming train stop two-thirds of the way into the station as they lifted the man onto the platform. The victim was bleeding from the head and had other scrapes from the fall.

A woman, who identified herself as a doctor, looked after the man as Firefighter Rivera ran upstairs to make sure station agents knew of the situation.

EMS soon arrived and transferred the victim to St. Vincent’s Hospital in critical condition.

“It was just a reflex,” Firefighter Rivera said. “I’ve never done anything like this before, but it needed to be done.”

After a pause, he added, “It’s anniversary we won’t forget.”