Young Girl Miraculously Survives Dad's Suicidal Leap in Front of Subway: 'Thanks to God and the Angels Who Protected Her'
During his Monday morning commute, a suicidal man tragically jumped in front of an oncoming train while holding his 5-year-old daughter, killing himself — but, miraculously, the young child somehow survived.
In a gut-wrenching video, the young girl can be seen crawling out from underneath the train and begging the good samaritans helping her to call an ambulance for her daddy.
According to the police, the 45-year-old man was holding his daughter when he jumped in front of a train at the Kingsbridge Road station in the Bronx after it rounded a curve to stop.
One of the witnesses told CBS2 they watched as a man “had a little girl on his wrist, and in his arms. Next thing I know, he and her jumped.”
Fernando Balbuena, the man who jumped, was killed by the impact of the train, but the little girl miraculously lived.
The dramatic video shows bystanders helping the young girl climb out from underneath the train following her father’s suicide. According to one of the men who helped her, she was calling out for her father the entire time.
“Papa, Papa, Papa, that’s it. She didn’t say anything else,” Antonio Love said, who had helped rescue the child.
She got lucky,” one police officer told the Post. “It’s amazing that she’s alive.”
The incident was horrifying for bystanders, but the young girl’s survival remained miraculous.
“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, who witnessed the suicide. “My theory is that the little girl was under the train and small enough she could roll because she only has a few abrasions on her forehead and arm.”
The incident “hurt me as a mother,” Hubb added.
After she was rescued, the little girl was brought to the local hospital, only sustaining minor injuries.
After a traumatic day, the 5-year-old girl who survived after her father jumped with her into an oncoming train is back home safe and sound. https://t.co/pGUMgPJTk5 pic.twitter.com/yADe4mWyEl
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 23, 2019
“My baby is in perfect condition, thank God … to the angels who protected her,” Niurka Caraballo, the girl’s mother said in Spanish.
According to NBC New York, friends of Balbuena were not aware that he was suicidal, and said that he was a great father.
“This is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family members as well as with our train operator—this is a traumatic event for everyone involved,” MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said, according to WNBC-TV.
Pray for the young girl and her family as they grieve the loss of Balbuena, and for the girl’s recovery, both physically and mentally.
