INSIDE EDITION talks to one woman who was trapped in a New York City subway elevator full of passengers as they waited for over an hour to be rescued by the fire department.
It was a real-life nightmare caught on video of 28 people trapped elbow-to-elbow in an elevator. It was hot and there was no fresh air.
The drama unfolded in a New York City subway station. The elevator was fairly large but was without air conditioning. It's not a place where you would want to be trapped with a lot of people.
One of the passengers was a child who had a panic attack as the others tried to fan her to keep her calm.
It was a full hour before help finally came through the ceiling. Just like in a disaster movie, it was women and children first.
A fireman said to the child, "Sweetie, it's all right. Five more minutes you and your mother will be the first two to leave." He then said, "I need the young and the old and anybody else who doesn't feel very well."
A ladder was lowered to bring the passengers out, but the little girl had a very urgent problem. Time was running out for her and she knew it.
The little girl exclaimed, "I got to pee!"
She was so upset, the other trapped passengers had to physically lift her up the ladder to safety.
But the ordeal wasn't over yet for the other passengers. There were no stairs to the street, so they had to go into yet another elevator for the ride to freedom and some fresh air.
Arisha Mesa went back with INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander to the subway station to relive the ordeal.
"Just looking at it is making my nerves tingle. I remember this girl had an anxiety attack and she collapsed on the floor crying. She was claustrophobic as well," said Mesa.
"Were you pretty scared?" asked Alexander.
"I was. I was calm throughout the whole thing but inside I was thinking, 'Oh man, are we going to get out of here?' " said Mesa.
And she says she's always remember the moment help came crashing through the ceiling.
