Taxi hit a cyclist, jumped the kerb and Severed British tourist Sian Green's leg on her first day in New York
A British tourist whose foot was severed after an out-of-control New York City taxi driver ploughed into her is facing having more of her leg amputated, her father revealed this morning.
Sian Green, 23, from Leicester, had only arrived in the city from England on Monday night when she was struck by the vehicle in midtown Manhattan yesterday morning near the Rockefeller Center.
A plumber used his belt to make a life-saving tourniquet for the woman's leg while a pizza truck owner raced to put her severed foot on ice.
They were helped by celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, better known on U.S. TV as Dr Oz, who rushed to the scene from his nearby office.
Miss Green, who works as part-time as fashion advisor at a Hugo Boss store in Leicester, had just bought a hot dog and was eating at the plaza with her best friend Keisha Warren when she was hit by the cab.
Sian Green, 23, from Leicester, had only arrived in the city from England on Monday night when she was struck by the vehicle in midtown Manhattan yesterday morning near the Rockefeller Center.
A plumber used his belt to make a life-saving tourniquet for the woman's leg while a pizza truck owner raced to put her severed foot on ice.
They were helped by celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, better known on U.S. TV as Dr Oz, who rushed to the scene from his nearby office.
Miss Green, who works as part-time as fashion advisor at a Hugo Boss store in Leicester, had just bought a hot dog and was eating at the plaza with her best friend Keisha Warren when she was hit by the cab.
Today outside the Green's semi-detached family home in Leicester her distraught father Jason said the family were flying out to New York today to be at his daughter's side.
'She is in recovery now, and they have had to amputate what's left of her foot,' he said.
'Her friend Keshia is still in shock. We are a really close family we are all devastated by what has happened, we don't know what to say...we just want to be at our daughter's side right now.'
Witnesses said the vehicle was on Sixth Avenue and 49th Street just after 11am when it hit the cyclist before jumping the curb, crashing into the woman and coming to a stop by a fountain.
Miss Green, who is studying to be a fashion buyer a De Montfort University Leicester, was conscious throughout the ordeal and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where she is undergoing surgery. One of her legs was severed at the ankle and she suffered injuries to the other.
Her boyfriend William Lord - who Miss Green has lived with for the past year - flew back from a separate holiday in Ibiza last night and is due to fly out to be with her.
At his home in Leicester, his father William Donaghue said his son had spoken to Miss Green on the phone.
He said: 'Sian is as upbeat as you can be about this, she is determined to not let this ruin her life.
'It was awful at the time because her friend Keshia wasn't allowed to go in the ambulance with Sian, she was just left on the street.
'They had just been getting a hotdog when Sian was hit. It's such a tragic thing for a young couple who have just moved in together. William is packing to get the next flight out there to be at her side.'
On Miss Green's Facebook page today a message read: 'Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and messages, Sian is being very strong and she has got all the support she needs.
'Keshia is very well and being Sian's rock.'
Her sister Rebecca Green said yesterday: 'We’re devastated. What happened is awful but thankfully she’s in good hands.'
'It’s such a shock and we don’t want to say anything until we know how she is. My parents are so worried and are flying out to New York tonight,' she said.
Aaunt Hayley Bennett added: 'It’s just so terrible. The family’s grief-stricken. We’re not being told anything from New York, the papers know more than we do.'
The cab driver, 24-year-old Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens, was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver and then set free, according to the New York Daily News.
The Daily News spoke to Himon at the police precinct.
'I am in shock,' said Himon, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has been a taxi driver for three years.
'Nothing like this has happened to me before.' His record shows he had three moving violations in 2011 for running a red light and speeding.
Himon's brother said that Himon had gotten into a fight with the cyclist just before the accident and that 'He went to hit the brake and stepped on the accelerator instead.'
But the cyclist, 40-year-old Kenneth Olivo, said Himon had cut him off moments before the crash and started honking, then struck him.
'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.'
Sergeant John Buthorn said: 'The circumstances are still under investigation, whether it was some sort of rage or an accident.
'It looks like her leg or part of it was severed during the accident.'
He said two other people - the driver and a cyclist involved in a collision which caused the taxi to veer on to the pavement - were treated for injuries.
The driver has not been arrested or charged, NYPD said.
David Justino, a 44-year-old plumber who witnessed the crash as he took a coffee break, told NBC he removed his belt and fashioned a tourniquet for the woman's leg before paramedics arrived.
'He hit the girl, she flew up in the air, her leg was severed right off ... so I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on, held it,' he said.
'She was conscious the whole time, the poor thing,' he added to the New York Daily News. 'I wished she would have passed out... [She is a] strong girl, a brave girl.'
Dr Oz, who works at studios nearby, raced to the scene when he heard the crash and saw Justino put on the tourniquet - which the doctor said was crucial to her survival.
The tourniquet 'was very smart thinking,' Oz said, adding that 'they saved her life'.
Dr Oz told the Wall Street Journal that the woman was bleeding profusely from her leg. He said that her friend who witnessed the event remained 'in a daze'.
Max Crespo, who owns a pizza truck at the intersection, told DNAinfo that he used a dog leash to help with the tourniquet and put the severed foot in a bucket of ice.
'I picked up the leg and put it in a cooler of ice,' said Crespo. 'We were just telling her, everything is going to be OK, help is on the way.'
Crespo was with his girlfriend, supermodel Heide Lindgren, who wrote on Twitter after the crash: 'I think my boyfriend might be Superman.'
Mohammed Elsayed, a hot dog vendor on 50th St. and Sixth Ave, also raced to collect ice and helped security guards pack the severed foot, which was found beneath the taxi with one of her sandals.
Sources told the New York Daily News that doctors are trying to reattach the foot.
Witnesses said that the cyclist was also hit and thrown over the cab's hood before it hit the woman. Police said he had been hit but had only suffered minor injuries.
Dr Oz added: 'It's really a miracle on the corner of 49th and 6th, one of New York City's busiest corners, that not more people were hurt in this accident.'
Authorities have not said what caused the driver to jump the curb, but the cyclist told DNAinfo that the driver tried to make a left as the cyclist was passing him.
'I told him, "Stop",' he said. 'He gets angry. He honked his horn and accelerates.'
He said the driver then hit him, knocking him on the car's hood. The driver has not been charged but police are investigating. The cab company, NYC Taxi Group, declined to comment.
After hitting the cyclist and woman, the taxi came to a stop perched on a granite wall that surrounds a fountain in front of a building. The woman's severed foot could be seen beneath the taxi.
Other witnesses told Fox that 'multiple people' were hit.
'As we were crossing [the street] with other pedestrians, the cab started to pull into the crosswalk,' said witness Jeffrey Hayes, who is in town from Massachusetts to visit family.
'The was a man riding along this way on his bicycle with a backpack and he got picked up by the cabbie and was thrown up on the hood and up on his windshield.
'The cab really accelerated at a great speed. We couldn't believe it,' he said. 'It smashed into the barrier here. There was a woman... It just nailed her.'
Dr Oz, a heart surgeon, uploaded an image of him and the hero plumber to Facebook after the incident. He also described the moment he heard the crash.
'While in a meeting in our offices near Rockefeller Center, I heard an accident occur on the street below,' he wrote. A taxi driver lost control of his cab and collided with a woman, badly injuring her leg.
'David Justino, a plumber from New York, took action, removing his belt and using it as a tourniquet.
'With the help of NYC first responders, who are the best in the world, the woman was treated and rushed to a local hospital.
'I applaud the quick thinking and heroic actions of David and the first responders. My prayers are with the victim for a speedy recovery.'
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of a traffic incident involving a British national in New York City. Staff at the British Consulate General in New York are providing consular assistance at this difficult time.'
'She is in recovery now, and they have had to amputate what's left of her foot,' he said.
'Her friend Keshia is still in shock. We are a really close family we are all devastated by what has happened, we don't know what to say...we just want to be at our daughter's side right now.'
Witnesses said the vehicle was on Sixth Avenue and 49th Street just after 11am when it hit the cyclist before jumping the curb, crashing into the woman and coming to a stop by a fountain.
Miss Green, who is studying to be a fashion buyer a De Montfort University Leicester, was conscious throughout the ordeal and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where she is undergoing surgery. One of her legs was severed at the ankle and she suffered injuries to the other.
Her boyfriend William Lord - who Miss Green has lived with for the past year - flew back from a separate holiday in Ibiza last night and is due to fly out to be with her.
At his home in Leicester, his father William Donaghue said his son had spoken to Miss Green on the phone.
He said: 'Sian is as upbeat as you can be about this, she is determined to not let this ruin her life.
'It was awful at the time because her friend Keshia wasn't allowed to go in the ambulance with Sian, she was just left on the street.
'They had just been getting a hotdog when Sian was hit. It's such a tragic thing for a young couple who have just moved in together. William is packing to get the next flight out there to be at her side.'
On Miss Green's Facebook page today a message read: 'Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and messages, Sian is being very strong and she has got all the support she needs.
'Keshia is very well and being Sian's rock.'
Her sister Rebecca Green said yesterday: 'We’re devastated. What happened is awful but thankfully she’s in good hands.'
'It’s such a shock and we don’t want to say anything until we know how she is. My parents are so worried and are flying out to New York tonight,' she said.
Aaunt Hayley Bennett added: 'It’s just so terrible. The family’s grief-stricken. We’re not being told anything from New York, the papers know more than we do.'
The cab driver, 24-year-old Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens, was issued a summons for being an unauthorized driver and then set free, according to the New York Daily News.
The Daily News spoke to Himon at the police precinct.
'I am in shock,' said Himon, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has been a taxi driver for three years.
'Nothing like this has happened to me before.' His record shows he had three moving violations in 2011 for running a red light and speeding.
Himon's brother said that Himon had gotten into a fight with the cyclist just before the accident and that 'He went to hit the brake and stepped on the accelerator instead.'
But the cyclist, 40-year-old Kenneth Olivo, said Himon had cut him off moments before the crash and started honking, then struck him.
'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.'
Sergeant John Buthorn said: 'The circumstances are still under investigation, whether it was some sort of rage or an accident.
'It looks like her leg or part of it was severed during the accident.'
He said two other people - the driver and a cyclist involved in a collision which caused the taxi to veer on to the pavement - were treated for injuries.
The driver has not been arrested or charged, NYPD said.
David Justino, a 44-year-old plumber who witnessed the crash as he took a coffee break, told NBC he removed his belt and fashioned a tourniquet for the woman's leg before paramedics arrived.
'He hit the girl, she flew up in the air, her leg was severed right off ... so I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on, held it,' he said.
'She was conscious the whole time, the poor thing,' he added to the New York Daily News. 'I wished she would have passed out... [She is a] strong girl, a brave girl.'
Dr Oz, who works at studios nearby, raced to the scene when he heard the crash and saw Justino put on the tourniquet - which the doctor said was crucial to her survival.
The tourniquet 'was very smart thinking,' Oz said, adding that 'they saved her life'.
Dr Oz told the Wall Street Journal that the woman was bleeding profusely from her leg. He said that her friend who witnessed the event remained 'in a daze'.
Max Crespo, who owns a pizza truck at the intersection, told DNAinfo that he used a dog leash to help with the tourniquet and put the severed foot in a bucket of ice.
'I picked up the leg and put it in a cooler of ice,' said Crespo. 'We were just telling her, everything is going to be OK, help is on the way.'
Crespo was with his girlfriend, supermodel Heide Lindgren, who wrote on Twitter after the crash: 'I think my boyfriend might be Superman.'
Mohammed Elsayed, a hot dog vendor on 50th St. and Sixth Ave, also raced to collect ice and helped security guards pack the severed foot, which was found beneath the taxi with one of her sandals.
Sources told the New York Daily News that doctors are trying to reattach the foot.
Witnesses said that the cyclist was also hit and thrown over the cab's hood before it hit the woman. Police said he had been hit but had only suffered minor injuries.
Dr Oz added: 'It's really a miracle on the corner of 49th and 6th, one of New York City's busiest corners, that not more people were hurt in this accident.'
Authorities have not said what caused the driver to jump the curb, but the cyclist told DNAinfo that the driver tried to make a left as the cyclist was passing him.
'I told him, "Stop",' he said. 'He gets angry. He honked his horn and accelerates.'
He said the driver then hit him, knocking him on the car's hood. The driver has not been charged but police are investigating. The cab company, NYC Taxi Group, declined to comment.
After hitting the cyclist and woman, the taxi came to a stop perched on a granite wall that surrounds a fountain in front of a building. The woman's severed foot could be seen beneath the taxi.
Other witnesses told Fox that 'multiple people' were hit.
'As we were crossing [the street] with other pedestrians, the cab started to pull into the crosswalk,' said witness Jeffrey Hayes, who is in town from Massachusetts to visit family.
'The was a man riding along this way on his bicycle with a backpack and he got picked up by the cabbie and was thrown up on the hood and up on his windshield.
'The cab really accelerated at a great speed. We couldn't believe it,' he said. 'It smashed into the barrier here. There was a woman... It just nailed her.'
Dr Oz, a heart surgeon, uploaded an image of him and the hero plumber to Facebook after the incident. He also described the moment he heard the crash.
'While in a meeting in our offices near Rockefeller Center, I heard an accident occur on the street below,' he wrote. A taxi driver lost control of his cab and collided with a woman, badly injuring her leg.
'David Justino, a plumber from New York, took action, removing his belt and using it as a tourniquet.
'With the help of NYC first responders, who are the best in the world, the woman was treated and rushed to a local hospital.
'I applaud the quick thinking and heroic actions of David and the first responders. My prayers are with the victim for a speedy recovery.'
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of a traffic incident involving a British national in New York City. Staff at the British Consulate General in New York are providing consular assistance at this difficult time.'
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