[Nfbf-l] Blind Man and his Guide Dog fall onto the subway tracks from the platform, Tuesday, Dec. 17

[Alan Dicey]

Cecil Williams pets his guide dog Orlando in his hospital bed following a 
fall onto the subway tracks from the platform, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, in 
New York.
(Graphic)
A blind man and his guide dog fell onto the rails at a Harlem subway station 
Tuesday morning and survived as the front car of a train passed over them 
because they somehow managed to stay down in the trough between the rails.

Cecil Williams, a 60-year-old from Brooklyn, was stunned by his incredible 
fate - and the loyalty of his Labrador retriever, Orlando - after he fainted 
and fell onto the tracks at the 125th Street station as a northbound A train 
approached.

Orlando tried in vain to keep Williams from falling - and wound up tumbling 
down onto the rails along with his master.

The train's lead car and half of the second rumbled over them, but Williams 
suffered only a cut to his head and bruises, and the 10-year-old lab was 
unscathed.

"I'm feeling amazed," Williams told the Associated Press from his hospital 
bed.

"I feel that God, the powers that be, have something in store from me. They 
didn't take me away this time. I'm here for a reason."
Cecil Williams, 61 and blind, says he fainted while holding onto his black 
Labrador who bravely tried to save him from falling and was pulled down into 
the path of the speeding train.

John Minchillo/AP

Cecil Williams, 61 and blind, says he fainted while holding onto his black 
Labrador who bravely tried to save him from falling and was pulled down into 
the path of the speeding train.

Williams, who said he didn't regain consciousness until after rescuers 
arrived, believes Orlando was his life-saver.
"The dog saved my life," he told the AP, his voice breaking at times from 
emotion.

"It's a miracle!" added Williams' girlfriend, Cynthia, who spoke to the 
Daily News as she took Orlando for a short walk outside of St. Luke's 
Hospital.
"He's doing great. He's feeling fine," Cynthia, who would only give her 
first name, said of Williams. "He's resting. He's under observation right 
now."
Adding to the enormity of Williams' good fortune, he said Orlando, who turns 
11 on January 5, will be put up for adoption soon because his insurance 
provider will no longer cover the cost of caring for him.

Williams said that if he could afford it, "I would definitely keep him."
A blind man reportedly fell on the tracks at 125th St. Tuesday morning but 
was not hit by a train.

David Torres for New York Daily News