50 unsung New York heroes
In a special Thanksgiving week tribute, we salute those who make our city a better place to live
Battling for the Bravest
Hundreds of firefighters owe their life to Frank Costello, a nurse clinician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Burn Center. But he's so humble you practically have to force the fact out of him. The soft-spoken, 65-year-old Jackson Heights native has been at the upper East Side burn center since 1979 (including stints on a Medevac helicopter and teaching critical care), aiding scores of injured Bravest, 9/11 victims and others over the years. Patients with severe burns "are the most vulnerable," says the father of two. "It not only involves the burning of skin, but also shock, trauma and all their other organ systems." Costello and his colleagues are best in the clutch: Of the 34 patients on 9/11, only a handful didn't survive, and he says that today, patients with 85%-90% of their body burned can be saved. Adds the nurse: "I learn every day. It's an amazing place. I've become a much better person from working here."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/473543p-398411c.html
9/11 families remembered
Retired FDNY member Lee Ielpi swallows hard whenever he passes the Tribute Center exhibit of a firefighter's dusty jacket taken from Ground Zero. It belonged to his 29-year-old son, Jonathan, who died in the line of duty on 9/11, leaving a wife and two young children. Ielpi found his son's remains after three months' searching through the rubble, but worked for another six months helping other bereaved relatives locate their loved ones.
He helped establish the September 11th Families Association and co-founded the Tribute Center on Liberty St., a museum of artifacts, images and stories from that terrible day.
"It shows what ignorance and intolerance have done and continue to do," says Ielpi, 62, who regularly leads tours of the exhibition.
The charismatic grandfather of four is also undergoing chemotherapy for a rare form of leukemia - which could be related to his time at Ground Zero.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/473204p-398144c.html
Battling for the Bravest
Hundreds of firefighters owe their life to Frank Costello, a nurse clinician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Burn Center. But he's so humble you practically have to force the fact out of him. The soft-spoken, 65-year-old Jackson Heights native has been at the upper East Side burn center since 1979 (including stints on a Medevac helicopter and teaching critical care), aiding scores of injured Bravest, 9/11 victims and others over the years. Patients with severe burns "are the most vulnerable," says the father of two. "It not only involves the burning of skin, but also shock, trauma and all their other organ systems." Costello and his colleagues are best in the clutch: Of the 34 patients on 9/11, only a handful didn't survive, and he says that today, patients with 85%-90% of their body burned can be saved. Adds the nurse: "I learn every day. It's an amazing place. I've become a much better person from working here."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/473543p-398411c.html
9/11 families remembered
Retired FDNY member Lee Ielpi swallows hard whenever he passes the Tribute Center exhibit of a firefighter's dusty jacket taken from Ground Zero. It belonged to his 29-year-old son, Jonathan, who died in the line of duty on 9/11, leaving a wife and two young children. Ielpi found his son's remains after three months' searching through the rubble, but worked for another six months helping other bereaved relatives locate their loved ones.
He helped establish the September 11th Families Association and co-founded the Tribute Center on Liberty St., a museum of artifacts, images and stories from that terrible day.
"It shows what ignorance and intolerance have done and continue to do," says Ielpi, 62, who regularly leads tours of the exhibition.
The charismatic grandfather of four is also undergoing chemotherapy for a rare form of leukemia - which could be related to his time at Ground Zero.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/473204p-398144c.html
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