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“I’ll be honest, I have never had such a lack of faith in humanity ever,” Shannon Flaherty said of the passersby who failed to assist her brother
NEED TO KNOW
- Months after a 40-year-old man died in a freak escalator accident in Massachusetts, his cause of death has been revealed
- After the dad of two fell on the escalator and became trapped, numerous passersby were filmed walking past him
- “It has completely changed the perspective I have on people and human behavior,” his sister said
A cause of death has been determined for a dad of two who died in a freak escalator accident at a subway stop in Massachusetts earlier this year.
This week, officials announced that Steven McCluskey, 40, was strangled by his clothing after he fell while riding an escalator at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)’s Davis Station in Somerville on Feb. 27, according the Massachusetts Office of the Medical Examiner
The resulting asphyxiation led to “hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy” — a type of brain injury occurs when oxygen or blood flow to the brain slows down or stops altogether, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Blunt force trauma was also listed as a contributing factor to his death, which was ruled accidental.
In video footage of the incident shared by NBC affiliate WBTS, the dad was seen taking an escalator down to the platform at around 5 a.m. local time. As McCluskey reached the bottom, he fell and became trapped at the base of the escalator.
For the next 22 minutes, people passed by without trying to help or only paused for a short time before moving on, according to the footage reviewed by the outlet.
Finally, an MBTA worker saw McCluskey and used a button to stop the escalator from moving. When first responders arrived, the 40-year-old man had no pulse, according to the report.
He died 10 days later at a hospital.
“I’ll be honest, I have never had such a lack of faith in humanity ever,” Shannon Flaherty, McCluskey’s sister, previously told The Boston Globe.
“It has completely changed the perspective I have on people and human behavior,” she continued. “It is, for lack of a better word, despicable. I just can’t believe that so many people had the same inclination to just walk by.”
The MBTA previously called what happened a “terrible accident.”
“It is important that the public knows that anyone can stop an escalator in an emergency by pressing the red button labeled ‘STOP’ at the top and bottom of each escalator,” the agency said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “They should also then immediately call 911.”
“MBTA personnel respond swiftly to all emergencies and do everything they can to assist individuals and secure the situation,” the agency added.
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Following McCluskey’s death, his sister remembered him as a talented carpenter and devoted dad to two boys, according to the Globe.
“Regardless of what his cause of death was,” Flaherty previously told WBTS, “nobody should be there for 18 minutes, unconscious, being strangled by their own clothes, not able to yell for help.”
Read the original article on People
