‘A bright light’ gone too soon
Loved ones mourn subway-accident victim
The heartbroken boyfriend of an aspiring actress killed in a Union Square subway accident days before her birthday remembered the 21-year-old as a “true joy to behold” with a “smile unlike any other” whose life was cut short after a frustrating day at work.
Helen McDonald-Phalon was standing on the train platform around 3 a.m. Saturday after going out with a co-worker when a southbound No. 6 train dragged her along the platform, then pulled her down to the trackbed where she was killed, authorities said.
The train had already been pulling out of the station for 100 feet when she touched the side, the MTA said, adding that it doesn’t appear to be a door drag. The incident is under investigation.
On Friday, the ambitious young woman, who lived in Brooklyn, was working her day job at ThinkGeek on Broadway and 34th St. when “a customer got upset and took it out on her,” her boyfriend, Nathanael MacIntire, 26, told the Daily News.
“People need to think before they’re unkind,” her heartbroken mother, Ann McDonald, told The News over Facebook messenger. “She was my beautiful girl. And now she’s gone.”
Three days ago, MacIntire couldn’t picture his life without the beautiful brunette from Summerville, S.C., by his side.
“We always wanted to find out what our babies would look like and had a wish list of my eyes, her skin and hair,” the grief-stricken young man said. “I wanted them to be little versions of her.”
They “immediately fell in love” after being set up by close friends while they were students at the the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in September 2016.
“Never have I met someone who was able to really convey how much love she had with the amount of support and passion she showed,” MacIntire said.
The couple were inseparable, and they had planned to get haircuts on Saturday, the day she died, so they could look their best for her 22nd birthday on April 25.
“She was happy our lives were looking up, and she was excited for our future,” MacIntire said.
He said she had struggled emotionally after her father committed suicide on Thanksgiving in 2014, but always looked on the bright side. But, he said, “Her positivity on her worst days gave her a sense of wonder despite the hardships.”
Her mother recalled, “Someone once asked her when she was about 15 where she saw herself in 10 years. She said, ‘Auditioning for parts on Broadway.’ ”
“Helen was a bright light who brought joy to everyone who knew her,” she told The News. “The outpouring of sincere grief and love that I’m receiving … is a testimony to her intelligence, sense of humor, kindness and beauty.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by McDonald-Phalon’s family to raise money for her funeral.