By Lauren Mariacher and Vanessa Thomas
The Buffalo News
Copyright 2007 The Buffalo News
All Rights Reserved
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Injured Firefighter Mark Reed intends to walk again — on his own.
He plans to return to work for the Buffalo Fire Department as a firefighter, using his new prosthetic leg for mobility, in a less physical job.
His goal is to regain enough strength that he can get around without a walker or a wheelchair.
Reed, 36, knows that he faces some more tough hurdles after fighting the battle of his life.
Almost two months ago, a brick chimney came toppling down on him while he was battling an arson fire at a vacant house at 120 Wende St. For weeks, he clung to life, in critical condition.
Wednesday, Reed — wearing the smile of a man who defied the odds of survival — was discharged from Erie County Medical Center.
“This is joyous,” said his mother, Barbara. “The dark days are over.”
Her words came just moments after her son was released from ECMC, where dozens of ecstatic supporters gathered in front of the hospital to greet Reed.
Family members, friends, firefighters, hospital staff members and others offered resounding applause for Reed as he was wheeled through the hospital’s exit with the help of his wife, Nancy.
Reed approached the podium, got out of his wheelchair and stood with the help of a walker as he addressed the audience.
“It’s going to be a long haul,” he said. “I’ve got to do a lot of rehab.”
Just nine days after the June 10 fire, an infection forced doctors to amputate his right leg, just above the knee.
Fire Commissioner Michael M. Lombardo said the Fire Department will welcome Reed back to work, if he wishes to return.
“He probably wouldn’t be able to be in the same position he was in, but there is certainly a position in the department that he could do and be very productive,” Lombardo said.
Lombardo suggested that Reed could work in fire prevention, or as a fire investigator in the fire marshal’s office.
Shortly after coming out of a drug-induced coma in early July, Reed was fitted with the prosthetic leg. He will now visit ECMC a few times a week for physical rehabilitation, learning to walk again.
For the last couple of weeks, he has been visiting the hospital’s rehabilitation center — practicing his walking and working his muscles with light weights.
Doctors told him that before they could release him, he had to walk 200 feet and climb 15 stairs. He achieved that feat — months before anyone expected.
“It’s amazing just how far he’s come in 52 days,” said Firefighter David Smith, who works at Engine 31, where Reed has been based for 10 years. “It’s remarkable.”
Besides his mangled right leg, Reed’s injuries included a punctured lung and seven broken ribs, which have since healed, as well as 20 facial fractures, a skull fracture and head injuries, most of which were repaired through reconstructive surgery.
“They literally had to take his face off and put it back on,” Lombardo said. “He lost 32 units of blood over the course of a few days — a lot of it was out of his brain.”
Family members say doctors told them that Reed suffered no permanent brain injury.
“His cognitive skills are growing each day,” said his mother, Barbara. “His eyesight is good. One eye is a little blurry, but it will get better.”
Smith said he remembers fearing the worst when he first visited Reed in the hospital on the night of the fire.
“It was very scary,” Smith said. “When I saw him in the intensive- care unit with all those tubes and wires, I was thinking that he might not make it.”
Smith and fellow firefighters believe that Reed’s excellent physical condition helped to speed up his recovery. They described him as an avid runner who frequently used the firehouse treadmill during downtime.
“He wants to return to the Fire Department in a different capacity,” said his mother, standing beside her husband, Edward, in front of ECMC.
“The wheelchair is just a nuisance for him,” she said. “Knowing Mark, it will be out of the house as soon as possible.”
When Reed left the hospital, he returned to his Hamburg home, where a sign across the front lawn reads: “Welcome Home Firefighter Mark Reed.”
Fellow firefighters have made some changes at Reed’s home to accommodate him, including adding hand railings, from the garage to the house, and a reinforced basement railing.
The Fire Department also is sponsoring a benefit for him Oct. 18 in HSBC Arena. Members of the community also are planning a benefit from 1 to 9 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Carriagers Social Club, 224 Fisher Road, West Seneca.
Western New Yorkers have donated more than $10,000 to Reed and his family, and he expressed gratitude for the outpouring of help from the community.
“Thanks, everybody, for all your thoughts and prayers, and all the cards you have sent to the hospital,” he said. “Thank God for Rural/Metro crew and ECMC. They were phenomenal and saved my life.”