A young mother tragically lost her life after tumbling down a flight of stairs at a Manhattan subway station Monday night.
Malaysia Goodson, 22, was carrying her baby daughter and her daughter’s stroller when she fell on the platform at the 7th Avenue/53rd Street station in Midtown, a spokesman for the New York Police Department tells PEOPLE.
Officers quickly responded to the scene, where they encountered Goodson “unconscious and unresponsive,” NYPD revealed.
Her 1-year-old, named Rhylee, was found alive.
Goodson, who was raised in New York, but lived in Stamford, Connecticut, was then taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Her cause of death has not yet been revealed and the incident remains under investigation.
Goodson worked at a daycare center and had dreams of becoming either a security guard or a flight attendant, the New York Times reported.
Members of Goodson’s family have since spoken out about her tragic death.
“I’m just still trying to take it all in,” Goodson’s mother Tamika Goodson told the New York Post. “I’m trying to see if I’m dreaming. I’m in disbelief.”
Goodson’s mother told the outlet her daughter suffered from a medical condition, which could have contributed to the fall. “She had thyroid — I don’t know, maybe she was starting to feel faint,” Tamika told the Post.
Goodson’s brother has also expressed his grief.
“She was very protective,” Dieshe Goodson, 23, told ABC 7. “I’m going to be honest, I don’t know what to do. She was my best friend.”
The MTA later issued a statement, obtained by ABC 7, regarding Goodson’s death.
“This is an absolutely heartbreaking incident. While the ultimate cause of the event is being investigated by the MTA, medical examiner, and the NYPD, we know how important it is to improve accessibility in our system.”
“The Fast Forward Plan acknowledges and prioritizes this work as one of four key priorities, and aims to ensure that riders will never be more than two stops away from a station with an elevator,” the statement continued.
“This will be accomplished through the addition of up to 50 elevators over the next five years. We believe this is an important issue of practicality and equality, and once accomplished, riders will never be more than two stops away from a station with an elevator,” the statement concluded.
Goodson’s story has left many New Yorkers and parents concerned, considering what happened to her could have happened to anyone.
“Something needs to be done asap. My life was so hard on NYC subways when my now 5 year old was a baby. I rarely saw elevators on my travels. Shame on MTA. My heart breaks for her baby and family,” one user wrote on Twitter.
The lack of accessibility in our subways is literally killing people. I am heartbroken by this tragedy, and am keeping this family in my thoughts. NYC must do more for families and the disabled. https://t.co/X2w91JdKtD
— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) January 29, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
“I’ve seen too many people, mostly women, struggle with babies on the subway station stairs. It’s ridiculous & unacceptable,” another user tweeted.
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson has also addressed the incident.
“The lack of accessibility in our subways is literally killing people. I am heartbroken by this tragedy, and am keeping this family in my thoughts. NYC must do more for families and the disabled,” Johnson wrote.
Goodson’s family has since created a GoFundMe in hopes of raising money for baby Rhylee.
from PEOPLE.com http://bit.ly/2MDbBmH
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