Marine Sgt. Derrick McMillian was waiting for the subway in Manhattan when he heard a commotion. He saw that a man had fallen onto the tracks and was struggling to stand up.
A recruiter based in New York City, McMillian, realized that a train was about 2 minutes away. Without hesitating, he jumped onto the tracks and went over to the man, whom he was afraid would stumble onto the electrified third rail.
“I saw people were more just kind of like watching, wondering, who’s going to help this guy,” McMillian told Task & Purpose. “I’m seeing him trying to get up and he can’t get up. It just felt normal and natural to go down and help him out.”
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The incident took place on the evening of Dec. 3 at the Chamber Street Station in Manhattan. Video of the rescue shows McMillian patiently lifting the man up so that others waiting for the subway could pull the man onto the platform.
Even though McMillian knew a train was minutes out, he said he was not concerned about being struck while trying to help the man on the tracks.
“The trains aren’t that fast,” he said. “So, I knew I would be able to at least get him off the tracks a lot faster than a train would be coming to me. So, I wasn’t too worried about the train running me over. I was more concerned with this gentleman touching that third rail.”
The man kept falling after trying to get up, making McMillian concerned that the man might inadvertently come into contact with the third rail and be electrocuted.
McMillian, who’d received combat lifesaver training in the Corps, tried to determine what the man’s injuries were and said he thought the man showed signs of suffering a concussion.
He then tried to Fireman Carry the man, but the man was disoriented. Eventually, McMillian lifted the man into his shoulders and others on the platform helped pull him out of harm’s way.
“Then one minute later, the train came,” McMillian said. “After I climbed back on the platform, the train came shortly after. We moved his legs out of the way.”
McMillian, who regularly lifts weights, said he had no problem lifting the man to safety, adding, “He was a lot lighter than I thought he’d be.”
When asked why he sprang into action, McMillian cited a lesson he learned from one of his staff sergeants: People expect that Marines will always help them out, no matter who they are or what they look like.
“I just didn’t want to be a bystander,” McMillian said. “I didn’t want to see this man die. So that was what was motivating me.”
UPDATE: 12/12/2025; this story has been updated with comments from Sgt. Derrick McMillian.
