UPPER WEST SIDE — A 7-year-old girl who suffered a heart attack when a massive fire engulfed her West 59th Street apartment building in December was reunited Tuesday with the FDNY responders who helped save her.
Emely Hernandez was found drifting in and out of consciousness by firefighters on the 26th floor of the high rise near Tenth Avenue on Dec. 22. Neighbors had initially rendered first aid before emergency personnel arrived.
“I did a quick patient assessment of Emely just to make sure she had a pulse, to make sure she wasn’t burned,” said FDNY Lt. Brendan Mohan.
“She was spitting up a little bit of blood. She was in pain from the chest up.
“We carried her 26 floors down to the lobby. She would wake up while we were bringing her down, then she would go out again.”
Hernandez, a second grader at Success Academy on West 84th Street, was taken to Cornell Hospital in critical condition but was released days later. The fire also injured 20 others, officials said.
“It felt surprising,” Hernandez said of getting to see her heroes again. “I like to say thank you to them for saving me.”
On Tuesday, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and other FDNY personnel were recognized by the school for their bravery.
“When I heard the outcome, it was thrilling for us,” said Nigro. “The best thing that can happen for us is what happened here.
Mohan said he was happy to get another chance to see Hernandez.
“This is great, just that she’s doing fine,” Mohan said.
“Any of the members of the Fire Department would’ve done what we did. It just happened to be us.”
