A Narrow Away from Death: Samuel L. Jackson Recounts an Experience He Had on the New York Subway

Samuel L. Jackson would have been seen for the last time in "Goodfellas" if luck had not been on his side during one of his journeys on the New York subway. As he recalled years later, when he tried to enter a carriage in 1990, the doors suddenly slammed shut on his leg. The train started moving, dragging him along. It would be two years before the actor learned who he owed saving his life to - and it was not the engineer's fault.

Samuel L. Jackson spoke on the "Mad, Sad and Bad" podcast with Paloma Faith about an accident from 35 years ago that he miraculously survived.

“In 1990, in New York City, I was pulled by a subway train,” he revealed in the radio play. He added that it was an “A” train.

He described standing that day at the “middle door of the last carriage” on the “long platform.” As he tried to board the train, the doors suddenly closed. The actor was still outside, but his leg remained trapped inside the carriage.

"I was there thinking, 'Oh shit, I'm going to die,' because I could see the tunnel coming and I couldn't find anything to grab onto or hold on to so I could stick to the train and not die in the tunnel," Jackson said.

The passengers inside desperately tried to push the actor's leg out, but to no avail. Fortunately, the train slowed down at some point and then stopped.

After the incident, Jackson sued the New York Department of Transportation. He said it took him two years to figure out what had caused the train to stop moving. It turned out that Jackson's life had been saved by an elderly man on crutches who had pulled the emergency brake in time.

Ed. JŁ