Miracle on the subway
Student survives fall onto tracks
A transit worker comforts law student Rikke Bukh, 22, who passed out yesterday and fell onto the L tracks in Brooklyn just as a train was pulling in — but miraculously survived after getting wedged between the rail and the wall.
A jet-setting law student lived every straphanger’s worst nightmare Thursday when she passed out and fell onto the subway tracks in a Brooklyn station — just as a train was pulling in.
“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Did I hit her?” yelled the operator of the Manhattan-bound L train, as he jumped out to check on the young woman, according to witnesses.
The train narrowly missed 22year-old Rikke Bukh — because she somehow fell perfectly between the rail and platform wall at the Bedford Avenue station in Williamsburg, cops said.
“Keep talking to me. You’ll be all right,” the train operator told her before running back to the controls to turn off the third rail.
A transit worker at the station then comforted Bukh by reaching down and holding her hand.
The close call happened around 11:15 a.m. and left riders stunned.
“Many people were saying, ‘Oh, my God,’ and leaning over looking to see [if Bukh survived],” said straphanger Liam La Guerre, who was on his way to work.
“It was pretty scary and nervewracking,” he said. “It’s the biggest fear that every New Yorker has.”
Police sources told The Post that Bukh — a Denmark native who graduated from the University of Florida last year and moved to Brooklyn inn July — had gotten dizzy and lostost her balance, causing herr to fall.
“She just stumbled off sideways,” said Jasper Basch, a 26-year-old film distributor who was waiting on the platform.
“The train stopped, and she was underneath it,” he said. “It was a terrifying thing to witness. You consider, Oh, my God, did I just watch somebody die?”
It was un-- clear why Bukh passed out. Doctors were running tests on her Thursday, sources said.
“Praying to whatever god is out there for the girl next to me who just fell onto the L train track,” wrote Twitter user @rhettrowan. “I am completely traumatized my limbs are numb . . . i feel powerless.” Firefighters were able to pull Bukh out through the gap between the train and the platform. She was trapped there for 20 minutes. Riders praised the quick response. “I have to say, it was a comforting thing to see AMT employees were able to rush to respond like that,” Basch said. “You have to give them credit. Everyone was really on top of it. “The Fire Department came and got her out of a tight spot.”
Bukh was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in serious condition, according to an FDNY official, but a source said she is suffering only from back pain.
“It looks like there was as happy an outcome as you could hope for, all things considered,” Basch added. “She’s alive, thank f--king God.”
Photos posted on Bukh’s Facebook page show her taking trips around the world with her family and living it up with her friends.
Her bio lists her as hailing from Copenhagen and studying at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law in the Village.
“She’s a very nice girl and [is] always polite to me,” said a neighbor, Don Lewis, 60.
“She says hi to everyone. and I feel horrible she has to go through this.
“You can’t help if you faint, but this is why you should stay away, far away from the tracks.”