Firefighters And Paramedics Reunite
With Victim Of 2008 Crane Collapse
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As firefighters scoured the wreckage, Firefighter Glenn Bullock from Rescue 1 heard the victim’s screams. They said they saw a small movement - the back of his jacket - under the 30 feet of rubble and began to dig towards him. |
FDNY Insider 3/14/09
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Rescue
Paramedic
Juan
Henriquez
(fourth from
left), Lt.
Tom Donnelly
(second from
right) and
Firefighter
Sean Cummins
(third from
right) are
reunited
with Jhon
Gallego
(seated),
who was
buried under
30 feet of
debris after
the crane
collapse on
March 15,
2008. They
are joined
by other
members of
Rescue 1 and
Paramedic
Henriquez's
partner,
Rescue
Paramedic
Marco Girao
. |
Jhon Gallego was sitting on his couch drinking coffee and watching television on March 15, 2008, when he heard a noise outside. He looked out the window and saw a large metal object coming towards him.
Seconds later, he was trapped under three stories of debris, thinking he was dying.
Yet, amazingly, the victim of the crane collapse on East 50th Street in Manhattan survived and was pulled out of the wreckage hours later by firefighters from Rescue 1 and treated by FDNY rescue paramedics.
So on March 13, Mr. Gallego stopped by the quarters of Rescue 1 in Manhattan to thank the men who saved his life.
“You saved my life,” said Mr. Gallego, embracing each of his rescuers. “I’m here because of you. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Paramedic Juan Henriquez said “seeing you is thanks enough.”
Mr. Gallego sat at the firehouse’s kitchen table, drinking coffee, as the group recounted the harrowing ordeal.
After being pinned under the pile of debris, Mr. Gallego said he remembered his cell phone was in his pocket. He called his girlfriend and she, in turn, called 9-1-1, directing rescuers to his location.
As firefighters scoured the wreckage, Firefighter Glenn Bullock from Rescue 1 heard the victim’s screams.
They said they saw a small movement - the back of his jacket - under the 30 feet of rubble and began to dig towards him.
“We used everything but the kitchen sink to get him out, we used every tool we had,” said Lt. Tom Donnelly from Rescue 1.
Firefighter Sean Cummins from Rescue 1 nodded, saying, “We were going through batteries like you wouldn’t believe.”
They sawed through the crane’s steel piece by piece, but the firefighters said one of the most difficult things to cut through was the victim’s “giant” couch.
As they neared the Mr. Gallego, Firefighter Cummins attached himself to a rope and began to slide through the tunnel, upside down, to reach the victim. Mr. Gallego said he was comforted to see the light from their search camera as they slowly approached.
Firefighter Cummins finally saw the victim laying face down in the debris, and he grabbed his hair. Mr. Gallego said he was comforted as the firefighters repeated, “We’re here, we’ve got you, we’re going to get you out.”
“We wanted you to hang in there,” said Firefighter Cummins.
Lt. Donnelly added, “and you hung in there for three hours.”
At that time Paramedic Henriquez said he administered an IV to the victim’s jugular vein and treated him for hypothermia, but he still worried about crush syndrome, when tissue loss results in toxins being released into the bloodstream, leading to cardiac arrest. But the victim remained stable as he was freed and transported to the hospital.
Day by day his condition improved - he was able to leave the hospital after one month and walk again after six. Although he is still using a cane to get around, Paramedic Henriquez said: “Just seeing him walking around and speaking now is a miracle.”
After emotionally describing his ordeal, Mr. Gallego was presented with a Rescue 1 hat, sweatshirt and t-shirt.
“I’m going to wear this every day,” he joked. “Maybe someday I’ll be able to join you here.”
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