Herald Square taxi crash: Mother and child under six injured after taxi jumps curb in Midtown Manhattan

HERALD SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) — A group of good Samaritans jumped into action as chaos unfolded before them on Christmas night when a taxi rammed several pedestrians in Herald Square.

A 41-year-old mother and her 9-year-old son from Australia were trapped under the vehicle, including six people injured in the Midtown incident.

The accident happened just after 4 p.m. on Christmas Day in the middle of busy Herald Square.

According to the NYPD, a 58-year-old taxi driver suffered a medical emergency, apparently a blood pressure problem, while driving onto the sidewalk at West 34th Street and Sixth Avenue.

“He hit us from behind, hit us from behind. “I didn’t even know what happened,” said the 41-year-old mother. “I just remember lying on the floor with something on top of me. I could hear the wheels screeching and my son screaming next to me.”

Witness Ryan Tucker was visiting from Oregon and said his wife was hit in the shoulder by the taxi. He made sure she was OK before he and a group of others jumped in to help – doing what they could when they saw the mother and her nine-year-old child trapped under the taxi.

“I ran over and noticed there was a little boy with his leg under the passenger tire spinning,” Tucker said. “And then there was a group of people. A gentleman went over and turned off the car, got in and turned it off. There was a whole group of us ripping off the fender, lifting the car back and then I grabbed it.” The little boy took him to the corner and realized that ultimately his mother was underneath.

The mother who spoke to Eyewitness News was visiting from Australia with her husband and 9-year-old son, who had just had his second surgery on Thursday.

“He broke his right femur. He also has severe – what do you call it – burns on his leg,” the mother said. “He’s going to be in the hospital for quite a while.”

The family is now spending the remainder of their holiday trip to the city at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

“We were just here over the Christmas holidays,” she said. “Christmas and New Year. Day three in the city and this happened.”

In addition to the mother and son’s injuries, a 49-year-old woman was also taken to another hospital for treatment.

According to police, three other women aged 19, 37 and 49 refused medical care. Officials say the injuries were not life-threatening.

The taxi driver was taken to a local hospital and is expected to be OK. According to police, no criminal offense is suspected in the accident.

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