Subway surfer loses limbs after being hit by NYC train

HARLEM, N.Y (WPIX) – A subway surfer in New York City lost her arm and leg after she was hit by a train in a Manhattan subway station Wednesday night, according to police sources and the MTA.

The woman was trying to climb on top of a moving No. 2 train when she fell between two cars and onto the tracks in the West 135th Street-Lenox Avenue subway station in Harlem at around 6:10 pm., according to the MTA and NYPD.

The victim was hit by a southbound No. 2 train and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, police said. The woman, believed to be in her late teens or early 20s, lost her arm and leg, sources said.

The woman was still in critical condition as of Thursday morning.

Police have used drones to save 114 people attempting to "surf" on subway trains in the past year, including a 9-year-old, according to Mayor Eric Adams. Yet at least six people have died subway surfing in 2024, an increase from 2023, according to NYPD data. 

One of those victims, a 13-year-old boy, was killed attempting a challenge he had allegedly observed on TikTok, according to police and the boy’s mother. Milene Sorzano told Nexstar's WPIX that she found videos of her son subway surfing on his phone and social media despite warning him against riding on trains.

A 12-year-old girl was also critically injured last month while subway surfing on top of the No. 7 train in Queens with her 13-year-old friend who died, police said. The 12-year-old was still critical as of Wednesday. That particular incident followed the tragic death of an 11-year-old boy who fell on the tracks while subway surfing in Brooklyn in September, sources told WPIX.