“The door closed on my foot”— Samuel L. Jackson opens up about almost dying after being dragged by a subway train 

In a recent episode of Paloma Faith's Mad Sad Bad podcast, Samuel L. Jackson opened up about a terrifying incident from December 1988, when he was dragged by a New York City subway train.

The near-death experience left him with severe injuries and a renewed perspective on life. When the accident took place, Samuel L. Jackson was 40 and still working his way up in the acting world at the time.

He revealed that when he was leaving the train at a Manhattan station, he stopped to pick up items that a woman had dropped. In the process, one foot got caught inside the train. The doors shut, and he was dragged along as the train moved forward.

"I got dragged by a subway train in New York… I got dragged by the A train. I was in the middle door of the last car, and it was a long-ass train station. And when the door closed on my foot, [the] train took off. So I'm sitting there thinking, I'm like, 'Oh, f‑‑‑, I'm going to die."

Jackson knew while he was trapped that the chance to get out was quickly slipping away.

"I could see the tunnel coming, and I couldn't figure out anything that I could grab or hold on to and get close to the train so I wouldn't get killed in the tunnel."

Just when the subway was set to enter the tunnel, a passenger who had been on crutches, pressed the emergency stop cord.

"It just slowed down really, really slow, until all of a sudden the train stopped," Jackson recalled

The train gradually decreased speed and finally stopped, making it possible for Jackson to be rescued.

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“It’s gonna be a f***ed up Christmas”— Samuel L. Jackson recollects the incident

While speaking with Vanity Fair in October 2021 about the accident, Jackson revealed that the accident in 1988 caused his ACL and meniscus to be hurt, leading to 10 months on crutches and a year spent in physical therapy.

After the incident, Jackson decided to sue the New York City Transit Authority by alleging that the conductor should have checked if the doors were free from obstacles before setting off.

The case progressed through many court hearings and ended up siding with Jackson. In 1996, the court in New York supported a payment of $540,000 to help Jackson cover his pain, medical bills, and loss of wages due to the accident.

When Faith inquired about Jackson’s emotions when trapped in the train doors, he talked about how he truly felt.

"When I was being dragged, all I could think of was, it was going to be a really sad Christmas, because it was like a few days before Christmas. So I was going to miss my birthday and all that. I was like, 'Damn, it's gonna be f***ed up. It's gonna be a f***ed up Christmas this year'," he said.

This legal win came when Samuel L. Jackson was rising to prominence in Hollywood, gaining widespread acclaim for his roles in Jungle Fever and Pulp Fiction.

In Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever, Samuel L. Jackson acted as Gator Purify. This role earned him the special jury award for Best Supporting Actor at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, a major milestone in his professional life.

Soon after, Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) led to an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.