The "Doomed Man" and The Maths

I understand that a lot of people on twitter (which I've left) and elsewhere are venting at the photographer for not "saving" the poor man who was shoved off a NY subway platform and failed to get back onto it before being struck by an incoming train. In defense of the Camera man I'd like to offer this post.

First and foremost: most of us as in 90% of us are not in the physical condition to hoist ourselves up onto a platform with one heave. I can, but most Americans, who are technically obese do not have such strength and dexterity. This is not the Matrix. Dud was not going to up and jump, backflipping into the air right before being struck. His actual best bet was to lie in the middle "ditch" or whatever it is called rather than attempt to get onto the platform.

Secondly is the sheer math for any would be hero. NY subways are multi-ton vehicles that move at upwards of 50 MPH. The claim is that there was 10 seconds before he was stuck by the train. So this man and any bystander had 10 seconds to do what? Get him up after the fall and hoist him to the platform before being struck. Think about this.

A train moving at 50 MPH is moving at 73 feet per second. Put another way in the 10 seconds that the man was on the track bed, that train moved 730 feet. That's over two football fields of distance. Or from the 0 to 50 yard line in 2 seconds.

I wonder how many bystanders could have moved fast enough to get both the victim and themselves out of harms way in that space of time? Someone suggested jumping onto the tracks. Really? Exactly what were they going to do? Hoist him up and then wait to get out, effectively needing MORE time to clear the tracks of humans? That makes no sense.

This was an unfortunate situation but the math did not add up for human intervention. The only thing that would have saved this guy after being on the track would have been to lay down in the middle or to have been in very good physical condition to have vaulted himself to the platform in one go.

So lets stop with the unthinking criticism of the photographer. The math and the physics were against anyone who could have intervened. This is not a movie. This is real life. There is no green screen special effects here.