Twenty-three year old Irish national Sian Green's leg was severed below the knee when an out of control taxi ploughed onto the sidewalk near New York City's Rockefeller Center.
It was every tourist's worst nightmare to be involved in an accident abroad, and for Miss Green, one particularly cruel for being a random car accident.
The taxi was out-of-control when it tried to swerve to avoid hitting a cyclist and jumped up onto the busy sidewalk.
Miss Green and her friend were eating a fresh New York hot dog by a fountain when the cab charged straight at them.
The cab struck Miss Green, severing one of her legs below the knee. Her other leg was crushed and she was thrown about three metres from the violent impact of the car crash.
A quick-thinking plumber nearby rushed to her aid, using his belt as a tourniquet - a move medical experts later said could have saved the Irish girl's life.
A pizza van driver rushed to put the severed foot on ice as medics and police quickly arrived on the scene.
Unbelievably, Miss Green remained conscious throughout the whole incident.
Police later issued a writ of summons for the driver of the taxi for being an unauthorised driver.
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