Dad, 40, dies after getting trapped in subway escalator as passengers walk by
Steven McCluskey, 40, lost his balance going down the escalator at Davis Station in Somerville just before 5am
The dad-of-two died after the incident
A dad-of-two has died after he fell over on an escalator and got his coat stuck. Steven McCluskey died in the freak accident, which was captured on CCTV and showed a number of people walking past him without stopping to help.
McCluskey, a carpenter, lost his balance going down the escalator at Davis Station in Somerville on February 27 just before 5am but onlookers were not overly bothered about his distress as he tried to free himself.
CCTV footage released showed that more than a dozen people walked by McCluskey as he struggled, with one even watching for several moments before simply turning around and heading the other way.
The surveillance shows he lost his balance at the bottom of the stairway and fell just before stepping off, causing his coat to get caught in the bottom of the machine. He then tried to get out of his coat, but struggled and was unable to get free.
As his clothing lodged deeper into the escalator, the fabric tightened around his neck, and he collapsed.
The escalator was stopped by an employee and medics called to the scene to find him pinned at the bottom of the escalator.
According to the police report, he was “unresponsive, bare-chested and his clothing was tightly lodged within the escalator steps.”
Paramedics worked on him and got him breathing again before rushing him to the hospital.
He was in a coma for ten days before succumbing to his injuries on March 9.
According to his obituary, McCluskey was the father of two young boys and a hard-working carpenter.
“He loved creating things and took satisfaction in seeing a job through from start to finish,” it said. “Above all, he loved being a father to his two sons, Shayne and Steven, who meant the world to him.”
The investigation into his death is ongoing.
