Brazilian Tourist Who Lost Limbs In New York Subway Accident Gets $82 Million

A US federal jury in Brooklyn has awarded nearly $82 million to a 29-year-old Brazilian student tourist after she lost her left arm and left leg in a subway accident in 2016.

While visiting New York City and standing on a platform with her boyfriend at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station, Luisa Janssen Harger Da Silva fainted and fell onto the tracks. An oncoming train hit her, severing part of her left arm and leg.

Da Silva's lawyers argued that the MTA had 15 years of data showing people could fall onto the tracks, and yet they didn't take safety measures, such as installing barriers at the edge of the platform. "The failure to act in the face of a known, preventable hazard is the definition of negligence," her lawyer, David Roth, said.

The jury sided with Da Silva, who was 21 at that time, awarding her nearly $82 million. However, the MTA has appealed, saying it disagrees with the verdict, asking a higher court to review the case, according to The NY Post.

Internal documents revealed that the MTA was offered proposals to install platform doors at no cost as early as 2011.

"Several of those companies, the largest in the world, submitted detailed plans showing they could overcome every engineering challenge and install platform screen doors system-wide," said Da Silva's lawyer, Bob Genis.

Big companies, like Faiveley Transport, submitted detailed plans showing it was possible to install the doors despite New York's tricky subway infrastructure. The MTA even called one plan "impressive". Yet, no further study or installation occurred, and MTA "walked away" from the free offer, said Genis.

Representative Tim Minton said they cannot explain decisions made many years ago, as the MTA has installed some type of platform barriers at 109 stations so far. At the court trial, the MTA argued that the 2011 free platform-door offer wasn't fully confirmed at the time.

Minton also said that installing platform doors at most stations wouldn't work because of physical feasibility and accessibility reasons.

In 2023, 241 people were hit by trains in New York City, according to MTA data.