Runaway cab driven by muslim severs young British tourist's foot
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Dr. Oz, who has an office nearby, rushed to Sian Green's side as a passerby fashioned a tourniquet and a vendor put her foot on ice after the taxi plowed into the crowd Tuesday morning at 49th St. and Sixth Ave., near Rockefeller Center.
The 24-year-old cab driver, Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens, was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver.
nydailynews.com
Runaway cab severs young British tourist's foot as Dr. Oz rushes to help; driver says 'it was an accident' Dr. Oz, who has an office nearby, rushed to Sian Green's side as a passerby fashioned a tourniquet and a vendor put her foot on ice after the taxi plowed into the crowd Tuesday morning at 49th St. and Sixth Ave., near Rockefeller Center. The 24-year-old cab driver, Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens, was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver.
By Kerry Burke , Tina Moore , Pete Donohue AND Corky Siemaszko / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, August 20, 2013,
Caters News Sian Green, a British tourist visiting New York City, was struck by a taxi cab on Tuesday. Her left foot was severed as a result of the accident.
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The first day of a New York City dream vacation turned into a nightmare for a British tourist Tuesday when she was struck on a crowded midtown Manhattan plaza by a runaway taxi cab that tore off her left foot.
Sian Green and her friend were biting into their hot dogs and sitting on a sun-dappled morning beside a fountain when the yellow cab careened from out of nowhere and plowed into her.
 Marcus Santos/New York Daily News Dr. Oz, circled, helps Green, whose foot went flying after a taxi cab plowed into her near Rockefeller Center.
Seconds later a union plumber named David Justino teamed up with celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, to rescue the 23-year-old Brit.
Oz said “Dave the Plumber” saved the woman’s life when he stripped off his Carhartt belt and used it as a tourniquet.
 Caters News It was Green's first day on a New York City dream vacation.
“The real hero of the day is plumber Dave, just an average Joe, an average Dave just walking along the street but he saved her life,” said Oz, whose T-shirt and jeans were spattered with blood. “It's very smart thinking. A simple thing like a union plumber's belt can save your life.”
Justino said he was awed by the composure of the victim, whom he called “a strong girl, a brave girl.”
 RogerWong/INFphoto.com The Green's foot can be seen circled underneath the runaway cab.
“Her left leg was severed off, the other was mangled,” he said. “She was conscious the whole time, the poor thing. I wished she would have passed out.”
Green was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Her condition was not revealed.
 Marcus Santos/New York Daily News The only person Green knows in New York City is the woman she was traveling with, pictured above.
Her severed, sandal-clad foot was recovered and doctors were trying to reattach it. But police sources said it appears her right leg below her knee could not be saved.
At least two other people were also being treated at area hospitals for less serious injuries.
The 24-year-old cab driver, Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens, was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver and set free. Before leaving the precinct, he told The Daily News “it was an accident.”
“I am in shock,” said Himon, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has been driving a hack since 2010. “Nothing like this has happened to me before.”
 Caters News Green and her friend were biting into their hot dogs when the yellow cab careened from out of nowhere and plowed into her.
But Himon has three blemishes on his taxi driving record — a parking violation, a citation for smoking in his cab, and a citation for cutting in line at a taxi stand.
He also racked up three moving violations in 2011 for everything from running a red light to speeding resulting in nine points against his license, records show.
His brother, Sayed Shamen, blamed a bicyclist for the accident.
 Caters News Justino says he was awed by the composure of the victim, whom he called 'a strong girl, a brave girl.'
“He had a fight with the bicyclist,” Shamen said. “He went to hit the brake and stepped on the accelerator instead.”
But bicyclist Kenneth Olivo said the cabbie caused the catastrophe by first striking him and then losing control of his hack.
The drama began a little after 11 a.m. when a yellow cab heading northbound on tourist-packed Sixth Ave. suddenly lost control as it was turning left onto 49th St., just a block south of Rockefeller Center, witnesses said.
Olivo, 40, told reporters he was also heading north and was to the right of the cab when it suddenly cut him off and started honking.
“I told him to stop because I’m trying to go forward and people are crossing,” the cyclist said. “He loses his patience. He gets angry. He accelerates. Hits me.”
Suddenly, the cyclist said, “I'm on the roof of a car like in a Steven Seagal movie, okay. And I’m on the sidewalk. I’m like this looking up at the sky.”
 Mike Dabin/New York Daily News
Mohammed Elsayed, who operates a food stand on the corner, said he had just sold the victim and her female friend hot dogs with ketchup and mustard.
“They were beautiful girls, smiling and so happy to be in New York,” said Fathy Mosad, another food vendor.
 Barry Williams/for New York Daily News Himon was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver and set free.
Then, out of the blue, the cab smashed into Green.
“Her leg was out, it was just out under the cab on the sidewalk,” a horrified Elsayed said. “I ran with ice and a bucket. We put the foot in the bucket. There was a lot of blood.”
 Kenneth Olivo, the cyclist who may have factored in the Tuesday morning crash, talks with NYPD.
Elsayed said the woman was too stunned to scream. “She was awake, but she couldn’t talk,” he said.
Fahad Munawar, a 21-year-old tourist from Texas, said he was sitting on the ledge of the fountain and saw the cab bearing down on the women.
Justino said Green's left leg was severed off, the other mangled: 'She was conscious the whole time, the poor thing.'
"It looked like it was out of control," he said. "We didn't even hear the brakes."
The next thing Munawar heard was a woman "screaming on the other side."
 Marcus Santos/New York Daily News Heros Green's travel companion on the New York City dream trip turned nightmare. 'They were beautiful girls, smiling and so happy to be in New York,' says a food vendor.
"There was blood everywhere," he said. "I saw a human body part a few feet away by the bushes."
Justino, who was working at a nearby Duane Reade pharmacy and on his coffee break, said his First-Aid training kicked in the minute the victim “flew up in the air.”
Olivo says the taxi driver hit him before jumping the curb at 49th St. and Sixth Ave.
“I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on, held it," he said.
Justino said the injured girl's friend grabbed a dog leash from a passerby “and held the other leg until Dr. Oz came over. He said we were doing good."
'I'm on the roof of a car like in a Steven Seagal movie, okay,' Olivo said. 'And I’m on the sidewalk. I’m like this looking up at the sky.'
The hero plumber said he could tell the girl was badly hurt.
“From the shin down, it was gone,” he said. “It was too much blood.”
 People rush to help the 23-year-old who moments earlier had been eating a hot dog with friends, according to Mohammed Elsayed, who operates a food stand.
Oz, who has an office in the area, said he heard the commotion and ran over to help. In short fashion he said he found out the woman was visiting from England and that Tuesday was her first day in New York City.
“She has no friends here except the one person who came over with her,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sixth Ave., one of the most heavily-traveled streets in the city, ground to a halt as the dramatic rescue was underway.
“It was terrifying,” said Louis Burgdorf, 27, who watched it unfold from his second floor office in Rockefeller Plaza. “It happened in a split second. There was a loud crashing sound, and we heard screams. We looked down and saw blood and a cab 15 feet over the curb.”
Amanda Seibert 'It looked like it was out of control, We didn't even hear the brakes.'
pdonohue@nydailynews.com
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