By Hana Alberts and Rocco Parascandola
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
A team of doctors worked nearly 12 hours on firefighter John Walters, who suffered serious leg injuries when he and another firefighter were rammed by a taxi on the Upper West Side, fire officials said yesterday.
Both Walters and firefighter Mike Schunk, who was less seriously injured, are expected to recover from the wounds suffered Wednesday night in a freak accident.
Walters and Schunk, along with other members of the elite Rescue 1, responded to a report of a gas odor on West 47th Street shortly after 10 p.m.
The run was short-lived, as no leak was detected. Before returning to their base, the firefighters stopped to pick up food on Columbus Avenue and 71st Street.
Walters, 37, and Schunk, 41, were returning to their rig when their legs were crushed by a yellow taxi cab that rear-ended the fire truck.
Police said the cab driver, Mohamed Khamis, 55, rammed right into the fire truck after passing another vehicle.
Khamis has a good driving record, police sources said.
He and his passenger were treated for minor injuries. Khamis was not charged in the incident.
Walters and Schunk were immediately tended to by their colleagues.
Schunk, a 12-year veteran who lives in Long Beach with his wife and daughter, suffered multiple fractures of his right leg and was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in stable condition.
Walters, an 11-year veteran who is usually assigned to a squad in Queens but has been on extended detail to Rescue 1 for six months, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center.
“I helped out with the oxygen and prayer,” said Rescue 1 colleague, firefighter Mike Anson, who rode with him in the ambulance. “When you come to rescue, it’s serious business, but sometimes the rescuers become the rescuees in certain conditions.
“Accidents happen,” he added. “Is it an unfair world? Yes it is.”
In Port Washington, where Walters lives with his wife, his mother-in-law was too upset to talk and his sister had just arrived from Baltimore.
“He’s a very decent human being,” said neighbor Carol Szaja, 79. “Very friendly, very helpful. There’s not a bad word to say about Johnny.”
In Long Beach, Sue Lynch, whose granddaughter often plays with Brigid, the Schunks’ daughter, had kind words for the injured firefighter.
“He’s well-known in the community,” she said. “He’s a great guy.”
Staff writers Julie Neyman and Luis Perez contributed to this story.