DIED CHASING HIS TRUCK.

The New York Times
December 1, 1909

Wheels Had Passed Over Him, Yet He Got Up and Ran After It.

The spectacle of a youth running to catch up with a truck which had just passed over his body, and his collapse and death just as he reached the vehicle, startled the onlookers last night at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue.  The fact that the 15-year-old boy arose after the heavy wheels had passed over his chest, was in itself remarkable considering the weight of the truck.  The youth who was killed was John Gabriel of 143 West Sixteenth Street, helper to Richard McConnell of 347½ West Seventeenth Street, the driver of the truck.

Gabriel, standing in the body of the truck, began to tell McConnell something and at the same time to step backward.  He did not realize his nearness to the edge of the truck's side, and in an instant he had fallen off and between the wheels of the forward and rear axles.  The rear wheel went over his chest and the truck then passed on, McConnell having no realization of the accident.

Gabriel rose and broke into a staggering run toward the rear of the truck.  He called to McConnell as he ran and fell as he reached the rear of the truck.  Men ran to his aid and Policeman Frazier of the Fifth Street station sent in a hurry call to Bellevue Hospital.  Dr. Graef answered the call, but upon his arrival declared that Gabriel was dead.