The married mom who was viciously shoved onto the tracks at a Manhattan subway station said she now lives her life in an “invisible cage” due to fear from the attack — as the maniac shover was sentenced to a decade in prison Monday.
Fighting tears, Wan Xu, 36, detailed how her life changed for the worse — leaving her fearful in and out of her home — ever since Samuel Junker, 41, tossed her onto the subway tracks at the Chambers Street station on Aug. 29, 2023, which resulted in a fractured leg.
“Every time when I walk into a subway station, I feel a faster breathing and my heart beats faster and my hands are shivering,” an emotional Xu said in a victim impact statement. “It was as if that (attack) or moment would happen again.”
Junker was sentenced to ten years in prison by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Laura Ward for the harrowing attack, in which the troubled man — who battles schizoaffective disorder — apologized to Xu inside the courtroom.
“My apologies run deeper than the ocean for how sorry I am to this poor innocent person,” Junker said, pledging to continue to “pray” for the victim.
Xu, a married mother-of-one, was on her way home after work when Junker, 41, followed her into the subway station and shoved her from behind onto the tracks, causing her to break her left leg, prosecutors have said.
Now, the mother still suffers from complications due to her injury, but her life at home is now shattered due to the psychological trauma caused by the attack, she claimed.
“It was like we were prisoned in the invisible cage of the shadow of the (attack),” Xu said, explaining how she and her husband are both experiencing trauma since the attack.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dylan Los Huertos Junker said Xu survived the “nightmare of many New Yorkers” when she was shoved onto the subway tracks.
Prosecutors were seeking to keep Junker behind bars for 12 years after he pleaded guilty to attempted assault in the first degree on July 9.
The judge explained that Junker has expressed repeated remorse over the past two years since he shoved Xu.
“I know you experienced every New Yorkers nightmare, and I’m sorry you and your family had to endure that,” the judge said.
