Firefighters from Rescue 4 in Woodside saved the life of a 15-year-old boy who was impaled on a short iron fence in front of a Ridgewood home on Tuesday afternoon.
The teenager was walking home from school with a friend, and they were “horsing around” in front of 22-03 Himrod St. at around 3 p.m. when he fell onto the fence.
The incident was exacerbated when his buddy fell on top of him, driving the teenager’s leg onto a sharp spike on top of the fencing. Rescue 4 arrived on the scene moments later and went to work, cutting the section of fencing with specialized equipment and passing him off to EMS personnel, who rushed him to the level one trauma center at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where the fence post was removed from the boy’s leg.
“This is an example of what we do every day, the training, the dedication that goes on each and every day by this fire department and our specialized units; we were able to extricate this child from the fence and save his life,” NYPD Assistant Chief of Operations John Sarrocco said afterward. “It just goes [as] a testament to what we do on a daily basis in the FDNY.”
He added that they just don’t put out fires. Rescue 4 firefighter Jason Shoemaker explained how his team had practiced using the equipment needed to rescue the teen at their firehouse on Queens Boulevard in Woodside just days before Tuesday’s operation in Ridgewood.
“Each day at Rescue 4, we train on something different, and last week we just [happened’] to train on band saws,” Shoemaker said, adding that the teen did his part. “This patient was as calm as could be, surprisingly enough. Usually, there is more anxiety. He just worried about not getting cut himself, but he stayed calm, which made the job that much easier.”
Paramedics rushed the boy to Bellevue where the fence post was removed, and he was listed in stable condition.
