Remarkable Recovery-Francis Lewis crash victim to attend graduation in June

Calling his recovery nothing less than “remarkable,” family and friends of Andrew Tsai, the 18-year-old Francis Lewis High School senior who lost part of his right leg in a February 27 accident, gathered with the recovering teen to announce that he will be attending his graduation in June.
“I’m really lucky to be here,” said Tsai, who was just released from Bellevue Hospital with a temporary prosthesis after undergoing numerous operations. “I could be dead, but I’m here.”
“Andrew has held his own with the support of his family and the community at large,” said Councilman John Liu. “This is a remarkable young man with spirit, strength and the determination to carry forth.”
“He is a reminder that life goes on and that just because you are ‘differently’ able, it doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish what you set out to.”
On May 23, Tsai met Robert Stridiron, the man credited with saving the teen’s life, for the first time.
Stridiron, a former staff photographer for The Queens Courier, was awarded the New York Press Photographers Association Humanitarian Award for his actions, as well as a City Council Citation from Councilman John Liu, and a thank you card from Tsai.
“I’m just glad to see he’s out of the hospital and doing well,” said Stridiron, who called his quick thinking in the face of a crisis “a reaction.”
That reaction happened at approximately 8 a.m. on February 27 when Tsai was pinned against a wrought iron fence outside the high school after Zongling Zhu, 48, fled the scene of another accident and rear-ended a car, which then sent a third vehicle onto the sidewalk where Tsai had been walking.
He spent nearly three months in the hospital following the accident.
“It [the hospital] was depressing and lonely,” said Tsai, who was visited by family, friends, classmates, teachers, and members of community organizations nearly every day. “When I first got home, it was a little hard, but now I’m getting used to it.”
Tsai, who completed all his credits in time for graduation, has been accepted to Baruch College and other universities.
He is unsure which school he will attend.