Kamilah Kashanie (KK): For Mayra Kalisch, The morning of April 12, 2022, started like any other…

 

Mayra Kalisch (MK): I was on my way to work and I was on the 45th Street train station…

 

KK: Mayra’s a no-nonsense New Yorker in her mid-sixties. She works at a non-profit in Manhattan.  

 

As she was waiting on the platform, a stranger stood next to her… a man in his late twenties. His name was Eric Acevedo, and he was also on his way to work.

 

Eric Acevedo (EA): I tend to run slightly late. Especially during this time, because it’s almost spring break.  

 

KK: Eric teaches high school poetry. He lives in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as Mayra, only two blocks apart… and this was their local station.

 

But… they’d never noticed each other before. 

 

EA: I don’t normally speak to people because I have my New York face, you know?

 

<MUSIC>

 

KK: As your resident New Yorker, let me explain… when you’re on the subway, you don’t talk to other people. They’re gonna look at you like you’re weird… So even as they stood next to each other, they were minding their own business.

 

As they waited in the  subway, they saw the express train speed past. And as it went by one of the cars went dark and they heard a sound.

Mayra Kalisch (MK):  And it was pop, pop, pop, pop. And then we just looked at each other as if to say, ‘What was that?’ 

 

Eric Acevedo (EA): And we made eye contact and I was like, ‘Were those gunshots? 

 

<Archival news tape of NYC authorities>

 

Reporter: This morning the FDNY received reports of gunshot victims in the subway. 

 [FADE OUT]

 

Thanks to their quick response, we were able to treat 16 patients…

 

<MUSIC>

 

KK: What happened next would create chaos and trauma for everyone there… but it would also bond two strangers for life. 

 

It’s the StoryCorps Podcast from NPR. I’m Kamilah Kashanie.

 

Mayra and Eric weren’t sure what they’d heard. So they did what any other seasoned New Yorker would do…

 

They got on their train. 

 

MK: We both just walked into the subway.  And we didn’t look at each other again at that moment.

 

EA: I still don’t know why the hell we got on that train.

 

KK: That train that had passed them? There was a guy named Frank Robert James on it…

 

He put on a gas mask, threw smoke grenades on the floor of the subway car, and started shooting. That was the popping sound they heard. 10 people were shot. The train pulled into the next station and he ran with all the other passengers onto the platform.

 

Eric and Mayra’s train pulled into that same station about 90 seconds later.

 

MK: I remember the smoke, and I remember people screaming and being upset. And I remember that some people were just standing at the doors. I mean people just didn’t know what to do.

 

EA: It was like someone had stunned them with a freeze gun, or something out of this world. 

 

KK: Nobody knew where the shooter was. Everyone just wanted to get out of there.

 

MK: I didn’t know what to do. I looked over at you. And you must have seen the look on my face because you said to me, ‘Just hold on to me. I’m going to get us out of here.’ 

 

You started screaming at people. ‘Get on the train!’ You had a sense of authority about you, like you didn’t seem nervous to me. I felt very assured when I was holding on to you. 

 

KK: The doors closed, and the train pulled out of the station, carrying Mayra, Eric, and other people fleeing the shooting.

 

MK: I remember the sounds. I remember people crying and whimpering, and… I’ve never listened to people be so scared. Like real fear. 

 

We got to 25th Street and the doors opened and we were all making our way out– 

 

EA: I said, don’t worry, don’t look back. Whatever you do, just roll forward.

 

MK: I held on to you all that time. I never let go. Until we were literally up the stairs. Top of the stairs, we said goodbye. You asked me for my name, and then I asked you for your name. And I remember you added, ‘I’m a teacher.’

 

EA: And I think I said, ‘I hope you make it home okay and safe.’

 

MK: I walked out and it was just like helicopters, police, ambulances and everything. I just started walking and I walked and walked to try to figure out what to do next. And when I had walked about 20 blocks, I then decided that the shooting couldn’t occur again, so… I went back into the subway and went to work.

 

EA: I went up the stairs. And I called my boss and I said, ‘Hey, I can’t make it into work right now. I’m going home.’ 

 

<MUSIC>

 

29 people were injured that day, not just from the gunfire, but from the smoke and the chaos. The shooter was arrested the next day. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack. He still hasn’t been sentenced.

 

EA: How did the day linger with you?

 

MK: It didn’t, so much. Because I have to ride the subways to do my life, I didn’t let it take over my thoughts. I also think that because I had felt safe during that, I didn’t think about it a lot afterwards. 

 

But… I thought about you.

 

KK: In all the mayhem and confusion, Eric had given Mayra comfort…and the next time they met… she’d have a chance to return the favor.

 

Stay with us. 

 

<MUSIC>

 

 

KK: After the shooting, Mayra fell back into her usual routine, which meant walking into the same subway station where she met Eric.

 

MK: Every time that I went into the subway, I always went to that same exact spot, I was hoping that I would see you again.  And one day you were there.

 

EA:  You tapped me on the shoulder and you were like, ‘Were you with me on that day?’ And I said, ‘Mayra, is that you? I was, like, so surprised. You’re like, ’Yes, that’s me, that’s me!’’ And I was like, ‘’Can I give you a hug?’

 

KK: It had been six months since they had seen each other… six months since the shooting. But unlike Mayra, Eric hadn’t gone back to that spot till that day. He had been avoiding it. 

 

EA: You were like, How have you been since then? And I was like, I don’t… I haven’t been so well.

 

Those things that I used to enjoy, didn’t bring me joy.  I love to dance, I love music, I loved going out at night, especially when it’s summertime. And I didn’t want to do that either. I didn’t want to be outside past a certain hour. I still am to this day always looking out. And I try to keep my headphones low, God forbid I hear another like, gunshot, you know?

 

I had a dream that I was on the subway car and that the conductor was a part of this gang of people that were assaulting others. And so I woke up in sweats and, like, shaking again. It was so real to me. 

 

MK: When you told me that you had PTSD. Like, I just felt so… Sad, that as a result of that day, that it hadn’t gone well for you. 

 

Maybe I felt a little bit guilty because I had been able to push it aside and not really think about it. So…

 

EA: I don’t want you ever feeling guilty. Because it wasn’t none of our faults, right?

 

KK: There was something else going on with Eric the day of the shooting… something he had been struggling with for a little while.

 

My grandma started chemo in March. Her doctor told me it was eight months to a year because of all her underlying conditions. 

 

My grandma’s my second mom, she knows it. I am grandma’s boy to the day I pass and beyond that.  

 

Every time she came out the shower, I would always brush her hair. 

 

So me cutting off her hair Just two days before, on April 10th, meant like she was fading.

 

That made me spiral. I would cry everywhere. I couldn’t even make it to my bed to cry.

And on April 12, when that occurred…  it was like… I was thin as paper.

 

Anything would have fallen on me and I probably would have spiraled and collapsed… but you held on to me, and I managed through.  

 

The confidence you had to hold on to me, I think that spun me into action. 

 

Had you not held my hand that day, I don’t think I would have been able to yell for people to get on the train.

 

So when we re-encountered and you told me how much I was present there for you.  Those words really, like, gave me closure in a sense. And they meant the world to me. 

 

You parted on 36th street and I continued on the subway, but I had like this, like a child opening a present on Christmas day.  I was like, ‘I saw her! I finally found her after all these months!’ It was one of the best days of, like 2022, to be honest.

 

MK: Aw. For me too, me too. I was so happy.

 

KK:  This time when they said goodbye, they exchanged info. And stayed in touch.

 

EA: Last year, I definitely needed a friend.

 

MK: Such a funny friendship because of the difference in age that we have. Over 30 years.

 

But we have a shared experience that is kind of like nothing that we have gone through with anybody else. We have this moment in time, right, when we locked eyes and that moment changed everything for us.

 

EA: I was really irritable on April 12th this year, and I told you. And you’re like, ‘Look at it as another day besides a shooting, something traumatic. If anything, you should view this day as the day you met me.’

 

It really like sunk in then. Despite our hardships that day, something beautiful came out.

 

<MUSIC>

 

Last year after the diagnosis of PTSD, I silenced my life in a way. Put like a mute button on it. And you’re like, increasing the volume in my life, right? You’re giving it more sound and more music.

 

MK: I was just thinking about the time my entire family, my brother was here and my mom was here, and you were [laughing] you were like part of the family.

 

EA: Yeah, I even made it into one of the pictures. 

 

EA: That was awesome.  

 

MK: I feel like we were put in each other’s lives for a reason. And I hope that we’re going to be in each other’s lives for many, many years. 

 

EA: I hope for that too.

 

KK: Eric and Mayra see each other at least once a week now… doing a lot of the things that Eric had been struggling to enjoy after the shooting… 

 

Like going out at night, seeing live music, and dancing…

 

And Eric’s grandmother? Despite the doctor’s prognosis…she’s still with us… 

 

That’s all for this episode of the StoryCorps Podcast. 

 

It was produced by Max Jungreis, who is our Associate Producer, and edited by Eleanor Vassili, who is our Senior Producer. Our Technical Director is Jarrett Floyd. Our fact-checker is Erica Anderson. Michael Garofalo is our Executive Producer. And Jasmyn Morris is our Story Consultant. Special thanks to Kendra Hanna, Willa Rubin, and Will B. Wylde.

 

To see what music we used in the episode… go to StoryCorps – dot – org… where you can also check out original artwork created for this season by artist Lyne Lucien.

 

For the StoryCorps podcast, I’m Kamilah Kashanie. Catch you next week.