Nicholas Genovese sat in his hospital room, his hands and feet still bandaged, and called his survival a "miracle."
"I am not the best Catholic," the Staten Island window washer admitted. "But I am going to start going to church again this Sunday."
Genovese, 58, survived a jolt of thirty-three thousand volts of electricity while cleaning the windows of a Lynbrook office building Saturday.
He and partner Alan Weinberg, 64, of Long Beach, apparently lost control of their forty feet long cleaning pole in the high winds, according to Lynbrook fire department spokesman Steve Grogan.
Both window washers were on the sidewalk outside the building, maneuvering the aluminum instrument toward the windows above, when it was blown onto high tension wires near the building.
"They probably shouldn't have been attempting that in those conditions," Grogan said.
Both window washers were immediately knocked to the ground.
"I blacked out for a second," said Genovese. "Then I felt the electricity run through my body."
Genovese suffered third degree burns on his hands and feet but may have survived, said Grogan, because he did not have a firm grip on the pole.
Weinberg, however, WAS holding it firmly in both hands and was badly injured.
"He had no vital signs for nearly twenty minutes," said Grogan.
Lynbrook volunteer firefighters refused to give up their battle to save him and, with help from Lynbrook and Nassau police officers, finally restored Weinberg's pulse after three jolts from a defibrillator.
Weinberg remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, according to a spokesperson for Nassau University Medical Center. Both window washers are now being treated there.
Genovese, a father of three, usually serves as a window washer for NYRA; but was on this job as a way to make extra money this holiday season.
He promised to be back out there as soon as he is healed; but will forever count his blessings.
"I am very lucky," Genovese said. "You never expect something like this to happen to you."
Nicholas Genovese (Photo/Mona Rivera)
From mzielinska
NEW YORK (1010 WINS/CBS 2) – Staten Island resident Nicholas Genovese says he is happy to be alive after nearly being electrocuted over the weekend.“I just got the shock of my life,” Genovese said.
1010 WINS’ Mona Rivera reports Genovese and Alan Weinberg, 64, of Long Beach, were preparing to wash the windows at a Bank of America branch on Merrick Road in Lynbrook using a telescoping 40-foot washing pole on Saturday.
Genovese was holding the pole at the top of a ladder while Weinberg stood on the ground holding the bottom of the pole, detectives said. At that time, a gust of wind blew the pole into a power line.
“The voltage went through me and everything went black for a second,” Genovese said. “The next thing I knew I just hit the ground.”
Police said that by the time officers arrived, Weinberg was in cardiac arrest. They performed CPR, and paramedics from the Lynbrook Fire Department continued treatment.
Weinberg was stabilized at South Nassau Communities Hospital and was then transfered to Nassau University Medical Center Burn Unit for treatment of second and third degree burns to his hands and feet. He was in critical condition.
Genovese suffered second and third degree burns on his hands and feet. He was in stable condition at Nassau University Medical Center.
“I thought I got struck by lightning,” Genovese said. “I thought I was dying but thank God I’m still here.”
Genovese said he will keep washing windows but never near power lines. His wife, Joanna, said he will not need skin grafts and will be released from the hospital on Tuesday.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/29/s-i-window-washer-survives-shock-of-his-life/
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