FDNY & neighbors in Islip, Long Island welcome home Rescue 2's Robert Weidmann. Three months in burn unit for firefighter whose dramatic escape was caught on video.
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The view from Bill Carey at Backstep Firefighter
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A veteran firefighter — whose brush with death from a sudden explosion during a Brooklyn blaze last year was captured on video — walked out of a Manhattan hospital today after a miraculous recovery.
Robert Wiedmann, dressed in an FDNY T-shirt and with his arms still bandaged, flashed a grin as he thanked the doctors, family and fellow smoke-eaters for their support throughout his 10 grueling operations since the Dec. 19 fire in Crown Heights.
“I never thought I wouldn’t walk out of here,” said Wiedmann, 38, of Islip Terrace. “It took three months, but I did it.”
Malverne-West Hempstead Patch:
Firefighters from across Long Island lined the overpasses of the Southern State Parkway Friday afternoon, marking the return home of injured FDNY firefighter Robert Wiedmann.
They lined the overpasses of the Southern State Parkway Friday afternoon and hung American flags to mark the homecoming of injured FDNY firefighter Robert Wiedmann, of Islip Terrace.
“Three months is a long time — it’s an emotional day obviously,” said Robert Wiedmann, 38, who had serious burns on more than 50 percent of his body after the Dec. 19 fire on the third floor of a brownstone on Prospect Place in Crown Heights.
Wiedmann and firefighter James Gersbeck became trapped inside the building; Gersbeck also suffered burns but was able to escape, while Wiedmann was engulfed in flames. He had to be rescued through a window.
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said that Wiedmann’s “commitment, his perseverance, has given every member of this department an uplifting spirit of hope, resilience and recovery.”
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