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A woman who was left paralyzed after being pushed into a moving subway train in New York City faced her assailant in court on Wednesday, recounting her years of suffering, trauma, and loss.
Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy shared with the court that since the attack in 2023, she hasn’t experienced “a single moment” of peace, declaring, “I am in this condition because of his evil action,” as reported by Fox 5 New York.
“There are no words that can fully describe the pain and struggle that I have endured over the past three years,” she stated, mentioning the numerous surgeries and “countless” therapy sessions she has undergone.
Ozsoy explained that her career has come to a halt, and she now grapples with daily challenges, depending on others for her basic needs while battling ongoing anxiety and financial difficulties.
Kamal Semrade is seen being escorted by officers after the court session in Manhattan. (Fox 5 New York)
A judge sentenced Kamal Semrade, 42, to 20 years in state prison after a Manhattan jury convicted him of attempted murder and first-degree assault.
Judge Althea Drysdale imposed the sentence prosecutors had requested, calling the attack “profoundly disturbing,” according to the outlet.
“The sheer randomness of this incident is profoundly disturbing,” Drysdale said, adding she had seen no remorse from the defendant, Fox 5 reported.
Kamal Semrade appears in court during sentencing in Manhattan. (Fox 5 New York)
Fox 5 reported that Semrade did not speak during the hearing and showed no emotion.
Prosecutors said the attack was unprovoked.
On May 21, 2023, Semrade followed Ozsoy after the two rode the same train from Queens during the early morning commute. At the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station, he approached her from behind and shoved her by the head and neck into a departing subway car.
Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy speaks in court during the sentencing of the man convicted of a 2023 subway attack. (Fox 5 New York)
Her head struck the train before she was thrown back onto the platform, fracturing her spine. Following emergency surgery, she remains paralyzed from the shoulders down.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Semrade fled the station immediately after the attack, leaving Ozsoy critically injured on the platform.
He later returned to a Queens shelter where he was living and placed the clothes he wore during the assault out for laundry service. Shelter employees identified him through an NYPD CrimeStoppers alert, leading to his arrest two days later.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the attack “uprooted her life,” leaving her with “catastrophic, permanent injuries, including paralysis.”
Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy before the 2023 subway attack that changed her life. (GoFundMe)
“After the attack, Semrade callously fled, leaving the victim helpless on the platform,” Bragg said. “While nothing can undo the profound harm caused, I hope this sentence brings a measure of justice.”
Semrade, who prosecutors said had been working as a delivery driver and had no prior criminal record, did not speak during the sentencing, Fox 5 reported.
In the years since the attack, Ozsoy has documented her recovery, writing on a fundraising page that “my life changed in an instant” when she suffered a severe spinal cord injury.
“When I woke up in the ICU after surgery, everything about my life felt uncertain,” she wrote.
After years of rehabilitation and multiple operations, Ozsoy said she has regained some independence, including the ability to use a computer and return to her art, though her recovery remains ongoing.
“Each of these steps represents many hours of therapy, patience, and hard work,” she wrote.