A British tourist lost a part of her leg when she was hit by a taxi that jumped onto the curb in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday.
Sian Green from Leicester was hit by a cab headed uptown on Sixth Avenue that skidded out of the way of an approaching bike messenger. The cab swung onto the curb, crashing into the 23-year-old woman who was crossing at 49 Street.
Passerby and witnesses-including television host Dr. Oz, who was filming nearby-stopped to help.
Plumber David Justino told NBC that once he saw the ailing woman, he immediately applied a tourniquet to her wound, located below the knee of one leg.
"He hit the girl, she flew up in the air, her leg was severed right off...so I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on, held it," Justino said, also mentioning that the woman was completely conscious throughout the entire ordeal.
Once he arrived on the scene, Dr. Oz, who specializes in cardiothoracic surgery, said that the blood-stopping belt was "very smart thinking."
"There was a dog leash and a belt-amazingly, two mundane things you wouldn't think of, but they saved her life. With the two of them, we were able to stem the bleeding," he told the BBC.
The driver, who has not yet been charged, said that he lost control of his vehicle and wasn't sure exactly how he landed on the sidewalk.
The 40-year-old bicyclist claimed that he yelled for the taxi driver to slow down just a few seconds befre he ended up getting hit, slamming onto the hood as Green was struck on the curb.
The bike messenger sustained a few minor injuries.
Neither the driver nor the bicyclist were under the influence of alcohol, breathalyzer tests showed.
Green's father Jason told the Leicester Mercury that surgeons amputated the remains of Sian's foot, but that she was recovering well.
"We are a really close family, we are all devastated by what has happened," he said.
