Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Let the handball go!

From the Times Ledger:

The court is surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence, but every once in a while the ball gets away from the players, soaring high over the barrier and landing under the train tracks.

That’s just what happened at about 6 p.m. July 29, a sticky summer evening much like any other at the Prince Street park, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Sal Arena.

An errant ball found its way out of the park and under the rail trestles, and 20-year-old Mason Xu crawled through a peeled-away section of chain-link to retrieve it from the trash-strewn brambles under the trestles, something the Flushing man had done many times before, according to a friend who was playing at the court Monday night.

Xu wore headphones as he ran under to grab the ball, and the friend said he must not have heard the westbound train pulling into the station.

“The train was preparing to stop at Flushing Main Street when the engineer saw an adult male dart out from under the westbound platform. The train struck the individual, later identified as Mason Xu,” Arena said.

The train struck Xu under the tracks, according to Xu’s friend, causing severe injuries including broken ribs and a severe head wound. He was taken to New York Hospital Queens, Arena said, where he remained in critical condition Aug. 2 after undergoing surgery for massive head trauma.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Severe head wound? Sounds like this rocket scientist had brain damage BEFORE this incident.

Gary the Agnostic said...

And watch how his family sues the MTA or the City.

Anonymous said...

Real smart to wear headphones while trespassing onto the tracks.

Anonymous said...

I hear a multi-miliion dollar law suit chugging down the express tracks. Next stop, MTA headquarters.

Anonymous said...

Darwinisim at its finest.

Anonymous said...

Take him to Booth Memorial? For what?

He could have just went right around the corner and recieved one of the best MASSAGEEEES for a low low price of 22$ and hour.

Anonymous said...

Genius -- next time bring an extra ball to the game.

Anonymous said...

Darwinisim at its finest.


how about his countrywoman who climbed over the railing at Niagara Falls with an umbrella that whooosh......

make great divers, too. Its called the 'O' Factor.

gc said...

At least he wasn't sitting on the couch watching video games or TV like overweight, media saturated American kids. Best wishes for a full recovery.

Anonymous said...

He’s a good kid, he’s a loving person, always smiles. Very bright, he’s got a bright future.”

Xu, a student at Queensborough Community College,...

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Yeah. "Bright" future. On the train tracks with headphones on, and attends Queensborough, which is basically a remedial high school.