Mom of teenage girl who died trainsurfing gives heartbreaking warning as mayor Eric Adams hits out at social media trend 'hijacking' young people

The heartbroken mother of a teenage girl who died while subway surfing is warning others about the dangerous TikTok trend, as New York City Mayor Eric Adams hits out at social media for 'hijacking' young people.

Krystel Romero, 13, was pronounced dead at the scene on Sunday, after she and an unidentified 14-year-old friend fell from the top of a 7 train in Queens, New York and were run over at the 111th Street station.

Her mother, Maria Elena Ortiz, 31, now says she no longer wants to live.

'I feel so desperate, she was my baby,' Ortiz told the New York Post through a translator, as she begged other teenagers not to get involved in the dangerous stunt.

'Stop [subway] surfing - it's not a game,' she said. 'If you die, think of the pain you will cause your family. Please kids, don't do it.' 

A family friend who goes by the name Ever claimed nobody knew Romero was riding on top of trains - and they didn't even think she took the subways.

He said her death left her grieving mom 'really in shock.'

'Krystel's mom told her not to do anything like this,' he revealed to the Post. 'I don't know what made her take this decision... She fell on the tracks for likes on TikTok.

'They were doing it for social media,' he continued, calling social media 'crazy right now' as teenagers 'just want likes' and 'think they can make money from their social media.'

'Don't take a risk just for TikTok  likes,' he warned others.

Romero's death marks the sixth subway surfing fatality this year - surpassing last year's marks of five deaths.

Her friend, meanwhile, remains in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, with unidentified sources telling the Post she had a fractured skull, a brain bleed and cannot breathe on her own.

The tragic accident mirrors a similar one just one week before, when 13-year-old Adolfo Sorzano died while subway surfing in Queens.

His parents had warned the teenager not to engage in the risky behavior eight months before, when his mother, Milene Sorzano, found videos on his phone of him subway surfing - which he posted to social media, they told Pix 11.

The family now remembers him as a child who was 'full of life with dreams and hopes' whose death 'has left a void that is impossible to fill,' according to an online fundraiser for his funeral expenses. 

'I ask you with all my heart to help us say goodbye to him with the dignity he deserves,' Sorzano wrote.

Adolfo's father is now also begging others not to follow in his son's footsteps.

'Please don't ride [atop] the subway,' Adolfo Sanabria told the Post. 'Please think about the pain it will cause your parents.

Other fatalities have included Alam Reyes, 14, who fell off a Coney Island bound F Train in Brooklyn in January and died at the scene, and an unidentified 13-year-old boy who was killed while subway surfing in the Bronx in June.

In July, 15-year-old Anthony Bhagwandeen also died after hopping on top of a Queens train. 

And just last month, 11-year-old Cayden Thompson died while subway surfing on a G-Train in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

His death prompted his uncle, a teenager himself, to vow to never try the trend again.

'I got hooked on it. I'd seen videos online, decided to do it,' 15-year-old Christian Vega told CBS News. 

'It's really easy to get hooked onto that stuff because once you do it, nothing's ever gonna top it off, like that adrenaline rush you get.

'Other kids who are thinking of going into subway surfing and other kids who still do, just stop doing it. It's not worth your life,' he said.

Following Romero's death, New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote on social media that he was 'heartbroken to hear that subway surfing - and the pursuit of social media clout- has stolen another life.

'We are doing everything we can to raise awareness against this dangerous trend, but we need all New Yorkers - and our social media companies - to do their part , too. 

'No post is worth your future,' he said.

The mayor also addressed the issue at a news conference on Tuesday, saying: 'I don't know if we really understand what social media is doing to our children.

'Social media has radicalized and hijacked our children,' he claimed. 'It's unimaginable that you can ride a subway train and 10 million people will view [it] and we show that over and over.'

He went on to say that teenagers 'are more impressionable at those young ages.

'You know, as children, you leave a karate movie and you start kicking like Bruce Lee,' Adams told reporters. 'And that's the same thing.'

At a separate news conference on Tuesday, Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Janno Lieber said the agency 'has done so much to try to push back on this terrible, dangerous trend' and will 'keep pushing.'

He said the effort includes 'thousands and thousands' of printed and verbal messages as part of the MTA's 'Ride inside, stay alive' campaign, warning against the dangers of subway surfing that flash and play in the subway system.

But Lieber said he is also asking social media companies to remove the viral clips of teens subway surfing as soon as they are posted.

'We're always checking, every day to make sure they do take them down and that they don't get out,' he said. 

In the meantime, Lieber is asking parents and school officials to 'bear down hard on kids who have shown the propensity to do this, because we've got to save their lives.

'Please! Parents, teachers, other caregivers - make sure this is not a game,' he said. 'We need people to pull kids back when they get involved with this.

'They cannot take chances with their lives,' he continued. 'This is not like a video game, you don't get another chance. You can't just reboot - this is one chance. If you lose, if you do something stupid, you're going to lose your life.'

He added that it 'breaks New Yorkers' hearts that kids - a lot of them are just good kids- are being injured and even God-forbid, killed by this dangerous activity.'