Eric Rivera, 14, of the Bronx, died while subway surfing in late 2019. Islam been sharing that lesson since 2019 to youngsters nationwide as a motivational speaker for Breaking the Cycle, a New York state-based nonprofit that spreads a “message of nonviolent conflict resolution,” according to its website. He added the haphazard stunt easily embodies the biggest regret of his young life. “My intentions to get an adrenaline rush nearly rushed myself into the casket, man,” said Islam, who is now legally blind. He lost his left eye and has had “multiple, multiple reconstructive surgeries” in ensuing years, most recently in 2019. Islam then spent more than a month in the hospital, ultimately being discharged on Christmas Eve, nearly six weeks after his accident. “I was just fading.” In June 2022, a teen was left clinging to life after a subway surfing accident on a 7 train in Queens. “I’m squirting hot sauce out of my scalp, man,” the Brooklyn native recalled. His searing pain was so intense that he couldn’t speak while wading in and out of consciousness as blood gushed from his head, he said. Islam was so gravely wounded that one of his two cousins who went with him that day assumed he was dead. “It is an idiotic action to make it is not worth it whatsoever, regardless of interest or the excitement.” “It’s extremely stupid,” Islam told The Post last week of the viral social media trend. Multiple deaths and injuries have happened to people subway surfing on trains crossing the Williamsburg Bridge. “So, deleting vids of surfing trains is definitely probably the right approach,” Rey said of recent calls by the MTA to remove the footage from social media platforms. He admitted that viral clip play a critical role in the culture - and often leads to copycats. “Some surfers plainly do it because they just wanna go viral,” said Rey, a 17-year-old from The Bronx who claimed he’s played the dangerous game hundreds of times, primarily on elevated tracks in Queens. “If there’s anyone that’s in need of a time machine, it would be me,” he said. Brooklynite Islam said he wishes he could reconsider his decision to ride atop trains. MTA officials claim viral clips on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and other platforms during the spring and summer of 2022 contributed to the latest spike in daredevils trying out the stunt. Subway surfing has also led to two deaths in the past three months: Zackery Nazario, 15, died last week after hitting his head while crossing the Williamsburg Bridge atop a J train, and in December, Ka’Von Wooden, also 15, died on the same bridge after falling from a J train onto the third rail. The MTA said last week that reports of people riding outside of trains more than quadrupled from 206 in 2021 to 928 last year. Nearly 10 years later, Islam, now 27, spoke to The Post in an exclusive interview - warning kids about the thrill ride that could have killed him: “It’s so deadly, it’s basically attempted murder on yourself, you know what I mean?” It was the first, and last, time the teen went subway surfing. Islam, then 17, lost his left eye in November 2013 after his head slammed into a metal beam as he clung to the top of an F train barreling into the Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street station in Park Slope. Isa Islam wanted a quick and cheap thrill - but subway surfing nearly led the rookie risk-taker to an early grave. Good Samaritan tries to intervene in subway brawl, and this is the thanks he getsĪlleged subway stabber Jordan Williams receives $71.5K for legal defense in just one day Man found fatally stabbed aboard subway train at Union Square Legal defense fund for subway stabber Jordan Williams reaches more than $95,000
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