I have almost no recollection of the attack. I may have fallen asleep on the train. My assailant probably hit me and then went through my pockets. My right pant's pocket was slashed open. About $15 was stolen. I was knocked unconscious.
The police found me and took me to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. They waited until I woke up at 1:00 AM and spent several hours questioning me. I remained hospitalized until 11:00 AM. Then, they let me go home. When I got home, I immediately went to sleep. I lay in bed until 8:00 AM the following day (today).
The left side of my face is completely puffed up. I can open my left eye just a little bit. I have a difficult time eating because my left jaw is in pain.
However, I do not believe that I suffered any permanent brain damage. I feel that I will recover fully eventually.
The last thing I clearly remember is going up the escalator at the Broadway East New York Station from the A Train to the J Train. I do not remember getting on the J train, but it is obvious that I did.
My foggy next recollection is that a black man, whose face I could not see, had his arm around me and was asking where I had my money. I told him that I do not know. I had already been hit at that time.
I do not remember anything after that, but it is obvious that he found my money in my right hand pocket and then hit me again, probably several times, knocking me unconscious.
I woke up at about 1:00 AM in Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. The police officers said that had found me coming off the M train at the Fresh Pond Road station in Brooklyn.
I do not know how I got there. When the attack happened, I must have been on the J train. Perhaps I staggered off the J train at Myrtle Avenue and got on the M train, as I was clearly disoriented.
The good news is that I am still alive. The person who beat me this badly just to get $15 was clearly very dangerous.
In the hospital, the doctors took a CAT scan of my brain and performed various other tests, so if I suffered any permanent damage they would perhaps know about it.
The doctors gave me three stitches above my left eye.
Sam Sloan
On Saturday, May 15, a man was killed at the Chauncey station, perhaps the same station where I was mugged. Here is that story: New York Daily News: Fare-Beat Try Ends in Tragedy.