John Cruz, left, and Dennis Charney, MD
John Cruz, Senior Manager, Parking Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital, had stopped by the cashier’s booth at the parking garage behind the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai when the attendant received a call that someone was unconscious on the roof. John told the attendant to call Security, and immediately ran up to the roof, where he saw smoke and fire and realized it was coming from a car.
Thankfully, two men were nearby and told John that an unconscious man was in the car, which was locked and filled with smoke. Working together, they broke the car windows and were able to drag the man along a concrete ramp to safety, just before the vehicle was engulfed in flames. John felt for the man’s pulse, and was relieved that there was one. At that point, EMS arrived and began triage.
In November, John was commended by senior leadership at Mount Sinai for his quick thinking and bravery.
“John put himself at risk in order to help a stranger,” said Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System. “He was afraid, as anyone would have been, but he conquered that fear to perform a heroic feat. We are so fortunate to have him as a member of the Mount Sinai family.”
But John is modest and wants to make sure Andre Rodrigues Silva, an employee of a Mount Sinai vendor, Efficiency Experts, is acknowledged for his efforts (John believes the other man who helped out was a patient, who was headed to or leaving the hospital.)
“I was very scared when I arrived,” John says, “but my instincts kicked in, and I was able to pull the patient out. My heartfelt thanks go to the two gentlemen that were there helping me.”