NEW YORK — On Monday, Barbara Bleier recalled the scary moment when she had to rush her best friend, 87-year-old Barbara Maier Gustern, to the hospital after the Broadway vocal coach was shoved to the ground outside her Manhattan apartment building Thursday night.

“It's probably one of the more horrible things that I've ever experienced,” said Bleier. “She was singing and really singing beautifully, and within 10 minutes she was covered in blood.” 

Bleier said she and a few others were rehearsing for a cabaret show Gustern was directing. They left the apartment located near West 28th Street and Eighth Avenue in Chelsea and went separate ways. Bleier was waiting for a cab in the lobby of the building when a man came pounding on the front door.

“A young man, a good samaritan, was bringing Barbara in and she was covered in blood. He was holding her up and we were of course totally stunned,” Bleier said. “She said, ‘I’ve never been hit so hard in my life.’”

Police are looking for the person seen in surveillance video who they say shoved Gustern from behind, forcing her to hit her head. Bleier said Gustern started to lose consciousness in the ambulance. She was taken to the hospital for a CT scan where they discovered massive bleeding in her head. She was then rushed to Bellevue’s trauma center. 

“At this moment, as far as I know, she's still unresponsive. There's still damage to the left side of her brain, which means paralysis to the right side and difficulty verbalizing” said Bleier. 

Gustern was a well-known vocal coach for those on Broadway and most notably for Debbie Harry, lead vocalist for “Blondie.” 

“She has been a huge influence on me and I attribute some of my success or a lot of my success to her as a vocal coach and her generosity as a human being and her great sense of humor,” said Harry. 

Those closest to Gustern say she is one-of-a-kind. 

“She’s 87 years old, she weighs about 85 pounds and she’s like a teenager,” said long-time friend, Penny Arcade. “She represented for so many people what was possible for life in your eighties. She's been robbed of her vitality and we've been robbed of her vitality, her wisdom, her support, her love for her community.”

“She is such an extraordinary woman,” said Bleier. “In fact, when the EMS were there they said, ‘What medicine do you take?’ and she said, ‘None.’ What 87 year old do you know that takes no medicine?”

Police are asking anyone with information to call crime stoppers at 1-800-577-tips. 

Bleier said this should not have happened to anyone, but especially not to the wonderful person she says Barbara Maier Gustern is. 

“She's just one of those human beings who's always there when you need her to be there,” said Bleier.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.