New York Injury Talk Blog

Dr. Philip Barie, the chief of the division of critical care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “If you believe in miracles, this is one.”. Dr. Barie went on to explain, “We’re talking about tiny, tiny percentages, well under 1 percent, of people who fall that distance and survive. Above 10 stories, most of the time we never see the patients because they usually go to the morgue” Dr. Barie’s quotes refer to the surprising recovery and ongoing recuperation of Alcides Moreno, a window washer who, along with his brother, plunged 47 stories from an Upper East Side apartment building last December. The fall, which killed Alcides’ brother, Edgar, happened when the scaffold on which they were standing while working as window washers gave way, plunging both men 47 stories to certain death. Three agencies continue to investigate the work related accident.

After more than sixteen operations; twenty-four pints of blood and nineteen pints of plasma, Alcides’ surgeon, Dr. John Boockvar, an assistant professor of neurological surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University indicated that Alcides is doing remarkably well after his latest operation to stabilize Alcides’ spinal column. This latest surgery on Alcides’ spine is meant to reduce the risk of neurological injury when Alcides again begins to walk and move about. After the fall, Alcides suffered serious injuries to his brain, his chest and his abdomen, as well as several fractured ribs, a broken arm, and two broken legs. But, amazingly, after falling 47 stories, Alcides spinal cord was intact and showed no signs of injury.