Banners Lift Spirits of FDNY FF DiBernardo Jr.

[Guest]

Way to go 18th Battalion and LI FFs for organizing the banner display!!!! =D> =D> =D> Get well soon!!! =D> =D>

Banners lift

spirits of firefighter

BY DEBORAH KOLBEN

and TRACY CONNOR

DAILY NEWS WRITERS  

Sunday, February 27th, 2005

It was a banner day for Firefighter Joseph DiBernardo Jr., the last of New York's Bravest still hospitalized from a tragic five-story plunge out of a burning Bronx building.

For the first time since emerging from a coma, the battered 34-year-old was wheeled around the burn unit at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center.

That was exciting enough - but an even bigger thrill awaited DiBernardo when he returned to his room and looked out the window.

Across the river, atop a building on Roosevelt Island, two Long Island volunteer fire companies unfurled huge banners in tribute to the heroic firefighter.

"Get well soon Joey D.," read a banner from the Setauket Volunteer Fire Department, from DiBernardo's hometown.

"Joey, get well soon. We love you, man," proclaimed the other, from the North Brookhaven Technical Rescue Team.

DiBernardo, whose voice is still raspy from the injuries he suffered in the Jan. 23 blaze, had to fight back tears.

"Holy cow! You guys are unbelievable," he said.

"I see it. I see it. You guys [are] the best," he told his friends over a two-way radio. "Thank you so much."

DiBernardo was one of six firefighters who leaped from the window of a Tremont Ave. building to escape an inferno. Two of his comrades, Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew, were killed. The others have been released from the hospital. DiBernardo broke his heels, pelvis and ankles in the fall. He's now hoping to go home within two weeks.

"We just wanted to do something really special for him," said Lt. Kevin Yoss of the 18th Battalion in the Bronx, who organized the event.

DiBernardo's mother, Barbara, said the view from his hospital room was the best medicine for her son.  

"Just to see his spirits up makes everything better," she said.

[LCFD968 10]

Simply Awesome! Is he a volly also? Thats sounds like that is exactly what he needed.

[DOC22 1]

This is what commeraderie is all about. Great job by those who got this done!