Medically Moreno was a mess when he entered the hospital. He required 24 units of blood and had a catheter inserted into his brain. He had a broken arm, two shattered legs, broken ribs, injured spine and has endured 14 operations in 28 days since his body hit the New York City pavement.
He doesn’t have a memory of the beginning. After the 500 foot fall he was in a coma for weeks. Now awake and more surprisingly talking his doctors announced on Thursday that they expect him to walk again.
“If you’re a believer in miracles, this would be one,” said Dr. Philip Barie, chief of critical care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.
“I’ve seen it all – or at least I think I have – until something like this happens.”
His wife Rosario received her Christmas present as he spoke his first words on Christmas Day.
Then he said, ‘What did I do?’ … I was stunned.”
The family praises the staff at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell who refused to allow the man to die. That makes his children Michael, 14, Mariah, 8, and Andrew, 6, very happy.
The native of Ecuador still faces at least a year of rehab and more surgery. His medical bills will end up being in the millions.
The family plans to sue the building owner, building manager and the companies who installed the scaffold rigging.
“I’m still in awe, I’m still in shock,” Rosario Moreno said. “I’m grateful, that’s all I can say.”
[...] posterboy for all evangelists who have already gone into a Praise-the-Lord overdrive, and then some more. Hope will reign supreme once again. Atheists will have to endure [...]