Dorie Pearlman lost her son, Richard Allen Pearlman, 18, in the attacks on the World Trade Center eight years ago, and for now she has lost his benefits too.
Pearlman, of Howard Beach, applied to the Public Safety Office Program, which was created to give benefits to families of Americans who are killed in the line of duty while protecting American citizens, but she was denied. At this time it is unclear why she has been denied the benefits.
On Pearlman’s behalf, Congressmember Anthony Weiner wrote a letter to Hope Yankas, Director of the Public Safety Officer Benefits Program, asking that the decision be overturned.
“On that tragic day, my constituent joined hundreds of other heroic New Yorkers who selflessly rushed into the World Trade Center to save lives,” wrote Weiner. “Mr. Pearlman answered the call to help his fellow New Yorkers and made the ultimate sacrifice in the process. His mother should not be denied the benefits due her, and I urge you to end her wait and award her these benefits.”
Pearlman, a member of the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps (FHVAC), was working for a lawyer’s office that morning and had brought documents to One Police Plaza when the first plane hit the World Trade Center Tower.
Being with all of the police officers, Pearlman knew his Emergency Medical Services (EMS) training could be put to use, so, instead of returning to the law office, he went with the officers to the site.
“Anyone that needed help, he was always there to help them,” his mother said.
Dorie did not hear from her son during the day, so when the morning hours turned to night, she knew the chances of him being alive were slim. She stayed up the entire night waiting for a call from her son that never came.
After the attacks, she saw a picture in Newsweek magazine of her son Richard helping carry someone out of one of the buildings. Dorie also learned later that Richard met up with a female police officer, and, when a call for someone in need of CPR inside one of the towers came in, they rushed to help.
“As soon as he went into the building to give CPR, the building collapsed and that’s how he died,” Dorie said. Richard’s body was found in April of 2002.
