Re: Local FLORIST is a HERO from Westchester County, New York

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TOTO

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Rescuer swings into action, pulls woman from car By ELIZABETH GANGA THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: November 19, 2004)

BRIARCLIFF MANOR — Yanni Papanicolaou was heading to the gym and turning onto the ramp to get on Route 9A Wednesday night when he realized something was wrong.

A driver behind him almost hit his truck trying to zoom around him, and another driver started yelling for him to call 911.

"I got out of my car," he said yesterday from his family's flower shop in Briarcliff Manor, Chilmark Flowers. "I look back. The flames are shooting back over the bridge."

He walked toward the bridge and saw the back end of a tanker truck in flames. "That's when I heard her screaming."

"I'm like, 'oh my God,' " he said. "There's someone in the car, dying."

He gave his cell phone to another driver to call for help and hurried along the overpass to find a place to jump down. Eventually, he saw a tree and was able to swing down using the branches.

When he reached the car that collided with the tanker, he could hear the woman screaming, but the flames were so intense he couldn't get close.

Wondering what to do, "I look down, sure enough, there's a rock right by my foot," he said.

He threw the rock, about the size of a Nerf football, and broke the window. The woman, identified as Stacy Morales-Bradley, 25, of Peekskill, came halfway out the window and Papanicolaou ran to pull her out of the car. He threw himself on her to put out the flames on her back.

Once she was out of the car, Morales-Bradley walked around in a daze, not aware of the danger they still were in.

"I'm trying to pull her away because the fire has started to burn me, and the tanker is popping," Papanicolaou, of Pleasantville, said. He estimated the tanker was about 20 feet away.

As they waited for an ambulance, Papanicolaou told Morales-Bradley she would be OK, though he saw severe burns on her back. Another woman gave Morales-Bradley her sweater, and Papanicolaou went back to his truck to get her some water. The ambulance came in a few minutes, he said.

Yesterday at work, Papanicolaou, 28, was left with a small burn on his right hand about an inch long. He feels like God was with him.

"I don't know how I didn't get burned more," he said.


Reach Elizabeth Ganga at [email protected] or 914-666-6482. Reach Elizabeth Ganga at [email protected] or 914-666-6482.

Officials to honor tanker-crash heroes By BILL HUGHES THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: November 20, 2004)

WHITE PLAINS — Westchester County officials are planning a tribute to honor the men who helped rescue two drivers from burning vehicles after a gasoline tanker collided with a passenger car on Route 9A in Briarcliff Manor on Wednesday.

Joshua Rattner of Irvington and Yanni Papanicolaou of Pleasantville will be honored for their heroism at Tuesday's meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

Rattner helped pull driver Henry Tulloch away from his burning truck and extinguished his burning clothing, while Papanicolaou used a rock to smash a window on Stacy Morales Bradley's car and helped pull her out.

Briarcliff police Detective Joseph Pugliese said the cause of the crash remained under investigation and that both patients remained hospitalized in stable condition yesterday.

"It's still serious, but their outlook is good, I've been told," he said.

Both Rattner and Papanicolaou were near the intersection of Route 9A and Pleasantville Road when the vehicles, both northbound, collided. The truck flipped onto its side and both vehicles caught fire.

Despite the intense heat from the fire, both men rushed to assist the drivers.

"The selfless actions of these young men in the face of possible personal harm deserve our admiration," said County Legislator Richard Wishnie, D-Briarcliff, who spearheaded the effort to honor the men. "I look forward to meeting them both and having this opportunity to pay tribute to them."

The Board of Legislators meets on the eighth floor of the Michaelian Office Building at 148 Martine Ave., White Plains, at 7 p.m.


Reach Bill Hughes at [email protected] or 914-694-3511. Reach Bill Hughes at [email protected] or 914-694-3511.
 

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