After the crash: When a story finds the reporter

A dream came true this week when I arrived in New York. As a Voices reporter, I was sent out to explore the city for stories. But on my way to Rockefeller Center, I heard tires screech and the boom of a crash.

Mega Sugianto

A yellow cab had jumped the curb and hit a bench. Everyone near me stopped in their tracks. I was about to turn my head and walk away, when a woman yelled, “It hit a person.”

Without thinking, I carried my tripod and camera, and crossed the street. My thoughts were jumbled. Was that person okay? Is he or she dead? How’s the cab driver? Is anyone else hurt?

By this time, I remembered what my professor told me. Don’t stop shooting.

Part of the sidewalk was empty as pedestrians rushed to what appeared to be a woman in a blue dress slumped backward on top of a bench, her body in the bushes and legs against the wall.

I headed toward the cab that was perched at an angle, the bumper cracked. I wanted to go around it, maybe to get a better angle of the woman and the pedestrians who were helping her. A man opened the front passenger door of the cab and talked to the driver.

Everything moved in slow motion after I saw a severed foot under the cab. It looked like something from a horror movie: dripping blood, an exposed bone and nail polish on toes.

Sirens blaring, the police, ambulance and firefighters came in a hurry, rushing to the injured woman. The police lined the sidewalks with caution tape and metal gates.

Frantic as I was, my reporter instinct kicked in, and I asked dozens of people whether they saw anything. A young man explained to me what he saw. His hands pointed to the direction of the cab that jumped the curb and hit the woman. His dad was that man who was talking to the cab driver.

I rapidly walked back to the hotel. Each honking car made me jolt. My hands were trembling carrying that tripod.

 As I returned to the newsroom, I kept to myself and smiled at those inside, but my mind was whirling. My editor pulled me aside, reassuring me that everything would be okay and that my reaction was completely normal.

 I was rewarded for my work when both the New York Daily News and Fox 11 in Los Angeles linked to my video, but in my mind I could only think of the horrific image of the woman moaning on top of that bench.

My dream was to come to New York and find stories. What I didn’t realize was that they would find me. I learned that challenging opportunities present themselves in ways you can’t prepare for. It’s important for me to capture those moments, but remember  how fragile life can be.