Woman rescued from tracks after falling between train and platform in holiday rush

  • Woman falls in gap getting off Long Island Railroad train in Great Neck
  • Lost her balance during rush hour trip ahead of Fourth of July Weekend
  • Gap was not big enough to pass her back out, so she was put on backboard and taken under the train 
  • Suffered bruising and was clutching bloodied arm while taken to hospital 

By Christopher Brennan For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:59 EST, 3 July 2015 | Updated: 10:14 EST, 3 July 2015

A woman's journey along the Long Island Railroad became a horrifying experience for her after she became stuck on the ground between the train track and platform.

The unidentified 65-year-old woman was injured after falling six feet into the gap while departing a train from New York at the Great Neck, Long Island, station during a 5.45pm rush hour bustle.

Commuters and those heading out to Long Island for the July 4th weekend posted pictures of the incident on social media as she was rescued in about half an hour Thursday evening.

Worried commuters watched as an unidentified 65-year-old woman lie on her back following a fall between a Long Island Railroad train and the platform in Great Neck, New York

Worried commuters watched as an unidentified 65-year-old woman lie on her back following a fall between a Long Island Railroad train and the platform in Great Neck, New York

'Don't touch her, don't go down there!' conductors screamed to those on the platform trying to help the woman, Ryan Sprotte, 24, of Manhasset told Newsday. 

Sprotte said he was right in front of the petite woman before she 'took a misstep' while coming out of the train and saw as she lie on her back during the ordeal.

The Long Island Railroad said that the woman lost her balance before the fall.

Captain Laurence Jacobs, a volunteer firefighter, was at the scene and kept the woman calm.

He told ABC 7 that if she could have been electrocuted if she touched one of the shoes that comes out from the electrified third rail.

Power was cut from the rail and the woman was put on a backboard and passed back under the train because the gap she fell through was not big enough to get her out safely. 

A volunteer firefighter helped keep the woman, who was lying on her back and clutching her arm, calm as rescue workers devised a plan
The woman eventually had to be taken under the train because the gap was too small. Above, firefighters and rescue workers take her out from underneath

A volunteer firefighter helped keep the woman, who was lying on her back and clutching her arm, calm as rescue workers devised a plan. She eventually had to be taken under the train because the gap was too small

The woman suffered bruising and was taken by stretcher to the hospital in Manhasset after the incident during rush hour Thursday evening

The woman suffered bruising and was taken by stretcher to the hospital in Manhasset after the incident during rush hour Thursday evening

A photo from Twitter user DrSteinbergMD shows firefighters and rescue workers out from under the train.

She was taken away by stretcher for evaluation at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

The woman was bruised and seen clutching her arm, which was bloodied. She is expected to be fine.

'You always hear 'Mind the gap.' But sure enough, it did. You realize it's not a joke,' commuter Ben Warshaw told the New York Daily News.

LIRR trains have 'Watch the Gap' warnings on car exits. 

Service on the LIRR to Port Washington was suspended while the woman was rescued.

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