VIDEO: Manhattan firefighter’s leg crushed by car as he rescues crash victims

A New York City firefighter’s leg was crushed by an SUV that had just crashed as he was attempting to rescue the victims inside on Sunday, law enforcement sources said.

At around 3:19 p.m. on Sunday at West 42nd Street and 11th Avenue, there was a collision that left an SUV tilted on top of another car at a 45-degree angle with passengers inside.

A video of the incident shows New York Fire Department (FDNY) firefighters attempting to stabilize the car to get the driver and his son out of the SUV. One firefighter brought over a yellow beam to try to hold the car in place while another tried climbing up into the car to tend to the victims.  

Suddenly, the SUV slipped out of park and starts to move, swallowing the firefighter as it falls and snapping his leg in the process. The car landed on its side on top of the firefighter’s leg.

“As members from Rescue 1 tried to brace and stabilize the car on top and remove the occupants inside, the driver of one of the vehicles hit the gas and caused a car to fall and pin firefighter Ryan Warnock below,” Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement.

“Firefighter Warnock was unpinned and taken to Bellevue where he is in serious but stable condition, being treated for injuries to his leg.”

🚨SHOCKING VIDEO 🚨

Wild video shows an @FDNY firefighters leg crushed under an SUV that he and other first responders were attempting to stabilize following a crash in Midtown Manhattan.

Video as per @Ny_scoop

pic.twitter.com/B5ZlxgQfwJ

— Kyle.Taylor (@livingbyyyz) July 18, 2022

An NYPD source said the SUV’s driver might have hit the gas while the first responders were working on rescue, causing the incident. 

“My wife and I were stopped at the light and all of a sudden we felt this impact and we saw a car drive up on the side of our vehicle,” said Matthew Wahn, the driver of the car that was left underneath. 

“It's absolutely crazy because there was no one behind us at the time. We were the only two cars between the two lights,” he added. 

“You could tell that when they pulled him out, he was definitely in pain, just grabbing his leg, he was in pain, but everyone clapped him, cheered him on when he was on the way to the ambulance because he's a true hero. That's a real New York hero right there,” said Wahn of the firefighter. 

The two people inside the SUV were injured and transported to a local hospital.