Nurse Rushes to Help After Man Is Pushed Into Moving Train at Back Bay Station

A nurse riding the Orange Line home never expected to spend her evening on the concrete floor at Back Bay Station, talking a stranger through one of the scariest moments of his life. She was just another commuter until she saw a man lying on his back, bleeding from his head, after witnesses say a group of teens pushed him into a moving train. In a matter of seconds, she went from bystander to bedside, using the same assessment skills she relies on at work, only this time without a unit, equipment or a team. For riders and nurses alike, what happened that night is a reminder that emergencies do not wait for a shift to start.

“He was just lying there”

It was early Tuesday evening, February 17, when a 27 year old rider got into an argument with a group of teens on the platform at Back Bay as they were trying to take his transit card. Witnesses say things escalated quickly and several teens began punching and kicking him, then one kick sent him into the side of a moving Orange Line train.

When the train passed, he was left on his back on the platform with a cut to his head. Witnesses said his phone was thrown onto the tracks, and the teens ran in different directions before police arrived, with some reportedly boarding the train they had just kicked him against.

As this was unfolding, a woman was walking toward the platform. She is a nurse, but that night she was just heading through the station like everyone else. “My first immediate reaction was to help him because I think he was in shock. He was just lying there,” she said.

A nurse’s instincts

By the time she reached him, a transit officer was already applying pressure to a laceration on his forehead. As soon as she saw the blood and the way he was positioned on the ground, her nurse training took over.

As a nurse, she said she saw the victim on his back bleeding from his head and knew she had to step in. “So, the transit cop was applying pressure to the laceration on his forehead, and it was a decent amount of blood, but he was alert and oriented,” she said. “I was just keeping him verbally engaged.”

On that platform, there were no monitors, no call bells and no organized team. Just a crowded station, a patient with a head injury and two people trying to keep him safe until medics arrived. Her focus was clear: make sure he stayed alert and oriented, keep him talking and watch for any changes.

She kept him engaged with simple questions and steady conversation. She watched his responses closely and stayed at his side until EMS took over care.

He told her he had been on his way to see his girlfriend to celebrate his 27th birthday. Instead, he said he was “very disappointed” that this was how he ended up spending it.

Victim’s condition and ongoing investigation

The man was transported to the hospital with a head laceration and is expected to be okay. The nurse who helped him said, “He could’ve been killed. Had the train come any sooner, he could’ve been pushed off the tracks quite literally.”

MBTA Transit Police say they are actively investigating the assault at Back Bay Station and working to identify all of the teenagers who ran from the scene. 

More recently, officials said one of the teens accused in the attack has been taken into custody. A 14 year old was arrested and is expected to face a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after allegedly kicking the man and pushing him into the moving train, according to Transit Police. No other arrests have been announced so far.

For nurses who ride public transit, this story may hit close to home. You can step out of the hospital, but your skills and instincts walk with you, ready for the moment when a regular commute turns into a scene where someone needs you.

🤔Nurses, have you ever had to jump into action outside of work? Share your experience in the discussion forum below!