Yeah, that stuck in my craw, too. What do you mean, "he couldn't get her up?" I was picturing a morbidly obese woman, perhaps.
Also, "came to her aid with paper towels and coffee." I got stuck there. If I take a fall on ice, my whole body is shaken. I don't want coffee, more like a brandy.
This very well happens in the little upstate NY burgs; I fell once on ice and traffic stopped to see if I was OK (conked the head in a bad way). NYC? No way.