FDNY Members Rescue Boy Suspended by Elevator

A 7-year-old boy in the Bronx experienced a real-life nightmare on May 11, when his foot became trapped between the elevator and the shaft, suspending him between the second and third floors.

“I could finish my career and never see anything remotely like this again,” said Paramedic Moses Nelson.

FDNY members were called to an apartment building on Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx at around 4:45 p.m.

Parmedics Nelson and Jason Saffon were the first to arrive. They said when they looked up the elevator shaft from the second floor; they saw the boy’s head and arms dangling from the corner of the elevator.

The boy was scared, so Paramedic Nelson comforted him and spoke to him in Spanish.

“I asked how old he was, if he was hurt - anything to take his mind off it,” Paramedic Nelson said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew I had to get his mind off the horrific thing that was happening to him.”

Paramedic Saffon went to the third floor to assess the boy’s foot as members from Engine 94 arrived.

Firefighters Casey Reilly and Joseph March stayed with Paramedic Nelson, to make sure he did not fall into the shaft as he was helping the boy. Lt. Raymond Arcos walked between the second and third floors to oversee the job and Firefighter Eric Klauck went to the third floor to help remove the boy.

“I was shocked when we got there,” said Firefighter Klauck. “There’s always more tension when you need to rescue a child.”

Soon firefighters from Ladder 48 arrived with airbags that would be used to distance the elevator from the boy’s foot.

Lt. Robert Hauryluck and Firefighters Dominick Carone, William Mulhall, Joseph Mondi and Michael Waterman (assigned to Engine 94) went to the third floor as Paramedic Saffon returned to the second floor to help his partner.

When everyone was ready, Firefighter Klauck said they inserted the airbag in the space and inflated it slowly. The elevator moved less than an inch and the boy’s foot slid out of the space and he dropped into the arms of Paramedic Nelson.

“I was so surprised when I saw his foot fly down,” Firefighter Klauck said.

Paramedic Nelson said the boy “kept saying, ‘I want to go home.’ He said his leg didn’t hurt.”

The boy was transported to Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center with a fractured tibia and a few cuts and bruises. When Paramedic Nelson visited him the next morning, the boy was sitting up and watching cartoons - and greeted his rescuer with a big hug.

The paramedic said he was thrilled everything worked so smoothly during the operation.

“There was flawless communication there and everyone did a great job,” he said. “An hour after that job I was still trembling. There are few jobs that get my heart pumping and make me think, ‘Wow, I did that.’”

Firefighter Klauck echoed the sentiments: “We have to work together or nothing gets accomplished. We all just kicked into work mode, we wanted to get the boy out quickly and safely.”