Our prayers for full recoveries go out to Blake Hunt of Flushing High School and Vincent Nollman of the Lynvet Gladiators who, having suffered similar crippling injuries playing football, are both battling paralysis and working to walk again one day.
The pair, from different neighborhoods in Queens, were actually roommates for a while in the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center in Manhattan. One night they bonded while watching a New York Giants football game on television.
The boys’ parents should be very proud of them. Instead of adopting woe is me attitudes the athletes maintained positive attitudes and are working hard daily toward leaving the hospital one day on their own two legs.
Until that day, the boys continue their rehabilitation and look forward to a very special outing coming up on Sunday, November 11, when the New York Giants will honor the boys on the field at Giants Stadium during the Giants-Cowboys game.
Hunt and Nollman’s teams are trying to help their families defray the cost of the mounting medical bills. The Lynvet Gladiators held a fundraiser on Sunday, October 21 and the Flushing Red Devils have slated a fundraiser for Hunt on Saturday, October 27. Flushing has also pledged the proceeds of all tickets from every Red Devils home game to be used for Hunt’s recovery.
We ask you, our readers, to help these brave young men and their families too. To help Vincent Nollman visit www.vincentnollman.com or call Coach Felix Pagan at 917-496-3446. To help Blake Hunt visit www.flushingfootball.com or call Coach Jimmy DeSantis at 516-208-9144.
Hand of hate
We were disgusted by the coward or cowards who defiled a local house of worship with symbols of hate - swastikas. The leaders of our borough - some 50 or so strong representing many faiths and beliefs - rallied immediately to the scene of the “Hate Crime” to condemn the heinous act.
Some twisted punk decided it would be fun to spray paint a swastika on the bulletin board of Young Israel of Hillcrest, an orthodox Jewish schul located at 169-97 Jewel Avenue. The nameless, faceless villain then thought that the passenger side window of a Hatzolah volunteer ambulance parked in the driveway would make a good target for his hatred. He left a second Nazi emblem there too on Thursday, October 18.
The congregation’s leader, Rabbi Richard Weiss said, “Kids do things without thinking. They need education to see how wrong they are.”
We hope that our police catch whoever is responsible for the incident and prosecute them fully. Moreover, if it does turn out to be act of misguided youth, we say educate the parents of that child too. Hate is not genetic - it is a learned trait.
