Jan 15, 2008 7:25 pm US/Eastern
CBS 2 HD Reunites Woman With Her Subway Hero
Lisa Donath Pulled From Tracks Day Before Thanksgiving
By Jackie Hyland, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Lisa Donath hugs Ismael Feneque, the man who saved her life after pulling her from the subway tracks when she fainted.
CBS
A woman who fell onto subway tracks and was rescued by an unidentified Good Samaritan has finally been reunited with the man who saved her life, thanks to CBS 2.
Lisa Donath choked back tears and wrapped her arms tightly around Ismael Feneque, who through wcbstv.com contacted CBS 2 HD to confirm that he was in fact the man who pulled Donath from the tracks on the day before Thanksgiving.
Donath recalled that morning, when after donating blood, she was on her way to work waiting for the 1-train at the 191st Street station in Washington Heights, when she grew weak and dizzy.
That's when she suddenly fainted and collapsed onto the tracks. Feneque was only 40 feet away when he saw her tumble.
"You fell onto the tracks, I jumped in and pulled you out," he told Donath.
Feneque says fear was never a factor, despite him knowing the train was coming, its headlights inching closer down the tracks. His entire focus was on picking Donath up and getting off the tracks in time.
"She was totally unconscious. She was out, she was dead weight," Feneque said, returning with CBS 2 to the scene of the frightening incident. "I had to muster a lot of strength just to lift her."
Feneque said he knew from the fall that Donath was badly injured. "She was in the center faced down, and I could not tell who it was," he said.
Donath's teeth, nose, jaw, and eye socket were all broken. Despite her injuries though, she hoped to find the man who saved her.
"[I thought] I'm never going to find him. Everyone told me you'll never find him," she said.
Feneque said that after giving police his name that day, he went to work thinking it would be months before Donath would fully recover allowing him to finally reach out.
Back at work, Donath says she is feeling better and lucky to be alive.
"I'm from out of town. Everyone talks about New Yorkers being so cold. I can't tell you how many helped me that day," she said. "I was placed there for a reason at that moment."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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