5-year-old girl miraculously survives after suicidal dad jumps to his death in front of New York subway with her in his arms
NEW YORK: A shocking video captured the moment bystanders pulled a young girl alive from beneath a train in New York City after her father jumped in front of it while holding her in his arms.
The incident unfolded at around 8 am on September 23 at the elevated Kingsbridge Road station in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the borough when a 45-year-old man, identified as Fernando Balbuena, jumped in front of a Manhattan-bound No. 4 train with his five-year-old daughter, Ferni, according to the New York Post.
"I watched as that train came around that corner, and I saw as the man jumped, and I see the little feet hanging out," said Jennifer Hub, one of the witnesses who saw the horrifying scene play out in front of her.
While the father was "cut in half" and was declared dead at the scene, the girl miraculously survived and escaped without any life-threatening injuries.
The video captured at the scene shows two good samaritans helping her out from under the train after it came to a stop. "Little by little, my love!" one of the bystanders can be heard yelling as Ferni slowly crawled out. "Little by little."
One of the men then lifts her towards one of the several shocked bystanders at the station, many of whom rush in to check on her. "I see the baby and I jump. I don’t think," said Bronx construction worker Jairo Torres, 36, one of the two good samaritans. "It’s about the baby, not me."
Ferni was taken to the Jacobi Medical Center for minimal treatment and later released. "She’s OK," revealed her mother Niurka Caraballo. "Thank God!"
"My daughter is in perfect condition, thanks to God," she added. "To those living angels that saved my daughter, thank you."
Caraballo said Balbuena had not shown any signs of trouble earlier when he got up, got dressed, and left their apartment to take Ferni to school just like any other day. "He was a good husband, a good father, a good provider and a good man. I had no idea [this would happen]."
While a motive is still unclear, a police source told the post that Balbuena had been hospitalized for mental-health issues six times and was on medication for the same.
He was also reportedly placed a troubling phone call to his wife just after reaching the station, but by the time she realized something was wrong and took off running the five blocks from their apartment, it was already too late.