“That feeling of being on top of the world—quite literally—was a very fleeting moment. I thought I was invincible at that point.” These were the words of Sarah de Lagarde, the global head of communications at Janus Henderson Investors, as she reflected on her 2022 ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro with her husband.
Just one month later, her life would change irrevocably.
On a rainy Friday evening in September, after working late, she made the split-second decision to take the tube home instead of a cab. As she stepped onto the platform, she slipped on the wet surface and fell through the gap between the train and platform—a gap wide enough for her entire body to fall through unnoticed. As the train departed, it crushed her right arm. “I thought I needed to save myself. I shouted for help, but no one came,” she said during an interview with Fortune at “The Story Ahead” event.
Alone and slipping in and out of consciousness, she remained on the tracks. Moments later, a second train ran her over again—this time crushing her right leg. “By some miracle, I was still conscious,” she said.
Eventually, someone heard her and raised the alarm, and 45 minutes later, emergency services arrived and transferred her to the trauma center at the Royal London Hospital. “I should have died 10 times that night,” she said.
