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A man who was pushed into the path of an oncoming subway train in New York City recounted his harrowing tale in a new interview after he narrowly escaped death.
Joseph Lynskey, 45, was standing on the platform of the 18th Street subway station in Manhattan, waiting for a train to take him to Brooklyn on the afternoon of Dec. 31. He had just had a celebratory lunch with friends and was headed home to get ready for a New Year’s Eve party, he told Good Morning America’s Eva Pilgrim.
Lynskey then found himself in midair above the tracks. He saw the lights of an oncoming subway train as his life flashed before his eyes.
“I just thought, ‘I’ve been pushed, and I’m going to die,'” he told GMA. “It happened in a flash when I was midair. I knew that I had been pushed.”
He was in the intensive care unit for five days.
“The nursing staff there and the care team there were amazing,” he said. “Truly amazing.”
The New Yorker shared that his brush with death taught him that life is short.
“It’s a powerful reminder that this can all be taken away from you at any moment, and you have to keep going. Life is too short,” he shared. “And I’m going to keep going.”
My whole life has changed…
Kamel Hawkins, 23, has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shoving a 45-year-old man onto subway tracks while a train approached. (MTA)
Less than an hour after the attack, a suspect was in custody. He was identified as Kamel Hawkins, 23, of Brooklyn. Hawkins, according to the New York Police Department, has nine prior arrests.
“I’m choosing not to focus on the anger or resentment or negativity,” Lynskey said. “He’s 23. I don’t know much about him. I’m focusing on healing, recovering, getting myself back to my life.”
He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder, assault and attempted assault, police said.
