Jerry Wenszell thinks about the heroism of his daughter, who was critically injured Sunday when she jumped on the tracks at the Midtown MARTA station to save her mother.
“Had Katie not jumped onto the tracks,” he told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday, “Sue would not be here. My wife would have been coming home in a box, quite literally.”
Sue and Katie Wenszell, along with four other daughters, were sightseeing in Atlanta when Christopher Patrick Brooklin, 28, allegedly pushed the mother without provocation. The family is from Milwaukee.
“There was no eye contact, verbal contact, nothing,” Jerry Wenszell said. “The man just pushed her.”
That’s when Katie Wenszell jumped and got her unconscious mother out of the way of the oncoming train. However, she could not save herself before the train hit and dragged her.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Katie Wenszell, 28, remains at Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
She’s had to undergo multiple surgeries, her father told Channel 2.
“Swelling on the brain,” Jerry Wenszell said. “They had to drill a hole in her head to relieve the pressure.”
She had part of her right foot amputated, her left shoulder torn off and is currently undergoing facial reconstruction surgery, the news station reported.
Sue Wenszell suffered a concussion, fractured elbow and a hairline fracture, Channel 2 reported. She was treated and released at a local hospital.
Brooklin, the man accused of pushing Sue Wenszell, is in the Fulton County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and battery, MARTA police told AJC.com.
RELATED: Police: Man who pushed mother on MARTA tracks struck different woman earlier that day
The MARTA police report, obtained by Channel 2, said Brooklin “did not seem to understand what was being asked of him regarding the incident” and that he appears to have “some diminished mental capacity.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for Katie Wenszell's medical expenses.
As of Wednesday afternoon, donations have far exceeded the $5,000 fundraising goal with over $35,000 raised.
MORE: Woman critical after jumping on MARTA tracks to save mom
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