A selfless Staten Island hero struck by a train while saving a drunken filmmaker who stumbled onto the tracks last month succumbed to his injuries today.
Steven Santiago, 39, died early this morning at Staten Island University Hospital after initially surviving a massive head injury he suffered while saving Jonathan Parisen, 40, from certain death Jan. 8.
Parisen went down onto the Staten Island Railway tracks in New Dorp at around 1:30 a.m. that morning — either to grab his shoes or on a drunken lark — while a Tottenville-bound train barreled toward the station, authorities said.
The ill-fated hero, who relatives said had just turned his life around, pulled the inebriated man up to the platform but Santiago was unable to pull himself out of the way in time. The train slammed into Santiago, causing massive head trauma.
Over the past several weeks, Santiago had recovered enough to move from the hospital to a long-term rehab, sources said. He took a tragic turn for the worse Friday night and was returned to the hospital’s emergency room, sources said. He died at 3:42 a.m.
Parisen was charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, and released on $2,500 bail.
When a Post reporter approached the filmmaker at the 120th Precinct stationhouse to ask if he would like to thank the hero who saved him, Parisen callously said, “No, I have nothing to say.”
Parisen was more considerate today, posting on Twitter: “I was just informed that Steven Santiago passed away today. My prayers go out to Steven and his family. God bless.”
The filmmaker had gone on Twitter after the accident to ask friends to pray for Santiago.
Neither Parisen nor Santiago’s family members could be reached immediately by The Post for comment.
Parisen, of East Orange, NJ, wrote, produced and directed “Stairwell: Trapped in the World Trade Center” in 2002, a tribute to firefighters which nevertheless angered some critics who felt it came out too soon after the terror attacks.
More recently, he was working on a flick called “Terrobot” about a giant robot that attacks New York City.
kconley@nypost.com