FDNY FF J. DiBernardo Jr. Leaves Hospital (last of 4)

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Last injured firefighter leaves hospital   

   

By Luis Perez and Lauren Johnston

March 9, 2005, 1:37 PM EST

After a 45-day stay, the last of four firefighters injured in a four-story leap from a burning Bronx building left the hospital for the first time Wednesday and was greeted by hundreds of firefighters, family and friends.

Firefighter Joseph DiBernardo Jr., of Rescue 3, says he thought of his partner Firefighter Jeffrey Cool's family as the two tried to escape the blaze by climbing down a rope, and wanted to be last man out.

"When I saw Jeff hanging out of the top of the air conditioner, all I thought about was Jill and the boys," he said in a raspy voice, speaking of his partner's wife and children.

"I knew I had to get Jeff down. I'm a single bachelor. Jeff came first. I wanted to be the last guy out of there," he said.

The fall "felt like an hour" after the rope snapped, he said.

DiBernardo wore an FDNY sweatshirt for his morning news conference and sipped an orange soda as he addressed the crowd, something he says he missed during his hospital day.

Cool and DiBernardo were two of six firefighters trapped in the blazing building. They along with firefighters Eugene Stolowski and Brenden Cawley, were hospitalized and survived the fall.

Lts. Curtis Meyran and John Bellew were killed after jumping from the building.

Speaking outside the hospital, DiBernardo recalled the day of the fire and downplayed media reports calling him a hero.

"I'm not a hero," he said, sitting up on a stretcher with both legs in casts. "I'm just lucky to have been in that company and I hope I'll work there again one day."

DiBernardo was released from the burn unit of New York Weill Cornell Medical Center after 45 days of treatment for severe smoke inhalation and multiple burns.

He was transferred in a Fire Department ambulance to St. Johnland Nursing Center in King's Park where he will undergo several months of rehabilitation.

He said he recently saw X-rays showing and inch-wide break in his pelvis. DiBernardo has five metal plates in one foot, four in the other and a total of 60 metal screws in his body.

He is expected to fully recover, but it is not yet clear if he will return to work at the fire department. 

Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.