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German Tourist Struck by Falling Debris Traumatized But Recovering

By Gwynne Hogan | May 11, 2015 4:56pm
 It was a rough first day in the city a 19-year-old German tourist planning to spend several months of her gap year here.
German Tourist Hit By Debris
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MANHATTAN — It was a rough first day in New York for a 19-year-old German tourist planning to spend several months of her gap year here.

Marie Dehrendorf, an aspiring painter and recent high school graduate, was hit in the head Friday by a piece of falling debris in SoHo on her first day in the city.

Later that evening, after emergency workers rushed her to the hospital, Dehrendorf wrote in a Facebook post that she was safely recovering.

"I'm am fine! [sic] I thank everyone who helped me and who was there for me! It was not the nicest 1 st day in New York i could imagine, but I am lucky that nothing worse happened!" Dehrendorf wrote. "The people from the Bellevue Hospital are awesome! Thanks everybody!"

Dehrendorf had just arrived from Germany and is staying with Judith Mills, an artist who lives in TriBeCa, Mills said. Dehrendorf is still terrified after Friday's incident and had to have staples in her scalp, according to Mills.

"It was a pretty traumatic blow to the head," Mills said. "Her parents are very worried...It's disgusting what happened."

Witnesses told Animal New York, who first reported the incident, that Dehrendorf was struck by a piece of wood about 18 centimeters long.

Fire officials said they inspected the building and saw no need to call in the Department of Buildings. The NYPD had no record of the incident.