Metro-North Train derailment New York
Emergency workers examine the site of the fatal Metro-North train derailment in the Bronx borough of New York. (Reuters)

Steven Ciccone, a celebrity pastry chef, is being hailed as a hero after he helped fellow passengers in the Metro North train crash in New York.

Ciccone, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was injured in the train accident but that did not stop him from helping other passengers.

Before medical help had arrived at the scene he assisted Denise Williams, a dentist who had suffered spine injuries and supported her neck.

He ignored his own injuries and said he only suffered a few bruises.

The passengers were taken to Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

"I think he's a hero, and not only that - he was trying to get in touch with everybody once he got to the hospital," a relative of Williams told 13News Now. "He was just roaming the emergency room."

Williams later said he saved her life.