kindness
Three strangers pulled the driver from the burning car
He could have driven on. His wrist is broken because he didn't.
A driver going the wrong way crashed into a car on the Henry Hudson Parkway around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 6, setting vehicles on fire. James O'Connell and his wife had narrowly avoided the same driver moments earlier. Rather than wait for 911, O'Connell made a U-turn, flagged down NYPD Officers Feliciano Merino and William Brodwell, and led them to the wreck. Then he climbed in to help. "Mr. O'Connell gave me the boost to get over the barrier," Merino said. "I didn't even think twice about it. I just hopped in." O'Connell broke his left wrist pulling at the burning car, and said he would do it again in a second. He has his reasons. "I'm sick from [the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks]; I'm currently battling cancer. Life is important." The injured driver is still recovering in the hospital. The wrong-way driver, 39-year-old Emichell Noloya, now faces drunk-driving and other charges.
