"Do whatever you can do to help. Just go." -Nick Gerstle
There are all different kinds of people in my EMT class. Some are people fresh out of college. Some people are going out for their second or third job. Most of them are ordinary people; the kind of people you probably wouldn't take a second-look at on the streets. and few of those people have ever done something extra-ordinary. Here's one story.
Me? I boast about being a hero; but most of the time I feel I'm just kidding myself. I'm just a guy running around in street clothes, pretending I have a red cape tied around my neck. I'm just an ordinary guy just like the next. But today I met someone heroic; that kind of person that just being able to know fills with some kind of pride.
During our lunch break today, I sat down and chatted it up with one of my classmates. I asked him why he decided to go into the EMS field. He told me how he was rescued by some EMT's on 9-11. I knew he was an engineer for Verizon, and their headquarters was around the towers. I asked what he was doing on the site.
He rushed in there to see if his sister, who worked in one of the towers, was alright. She was fine. But he stayed nearby.
The towers fell.
He was just an engineer, but he was certified in CPR and First Aid. So taking what he knew, he went out there to Ground Zero. While the rest of us was caught up in the media frenzy, sitting slack-jawed in front our TVs, all cozy and safe in our homes.There he was on the front line, helping out our city in our most tragic time. He was elbow to elbow with a couple of Marines as they dug out two Port Authority Policemen who were buried under the rubble; you remember the story from the movie World Trade Center.
Later he was taken into EMS care for heat inhalation from the smoky and still glowing debris. En route out of Ground Zero, former-Mayor Rudy Guiliani shook his hand and commended him on his heroism.
More then six years later, there he is next to me in EMT class. He showed me his picture from the New Yorker with him on a stretcher being treated by EMT's. Not much to the guy, besides his biceps the size of my head. No joke, they're gi-normous! But he's a real humble guy, kind of like a gentle giant.
His name is Nick Gerstle, and I'm proud to say I know the guy.
I'm on my way to becoming an EMT to make my mark as a hero. But here's this guy, only two years older than me, he has more than made his mark already; he has even worked side-by-side with other heroes. I feel like I'm standing next to Superman - um, a big half-German half-Samoan Superman.
So if some guy can come out and help others, especially when shit hits the fan, then why can't we?
Because we're busy? Nick was busy too. He had his sister and the rest of his family to look after. After all, he was just an engineer.
Because we're scared?
What's scarier than being on top of an unstable smoldering mountain of debris with gas pockets going off around you?!
If you have the heart to help, no one can stop you but yourself. And Nick said that we should do whatever we can do to help, we just go.
Just go.
You can read more on Nick's story here: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/america.remembers/stories/tower/nick.html
There are all different kinds of people in my EMT class. Some are people fresh out of college. Some people are going out for their second or third job. Most of them are ordinary people; the kind of people you probably wouldn't take a second-look at on the streets. and few of those people have ever done something extra-ordinary. Here's one story.
Me? I boast about being a hero; but most of the time I feel I'm just kidding myself. I'm just a guy running around in street clothes, pretending I have a red cape tied around my neck. I'm just an ordinary guy just like the next. But today I met someone heroic; that kind of person that just being able to know fills with some kind of pride.
During our lunch break today, I sat down and chatted it up with one of my classmates. I asked him why he decided to go into the EMS field. He told me how he was rescued by some EMT's on 9-11. I knew he was an engineer for Verizon, and their headquarters was around the towers. I asked what he was doing on the site.
He rushed in there to see if his sister, who worked in one of the towers, was alright. She was fine. But he stayed nearby.
The towers fell.
He was just an engineer, but he was certified in CPR and First Aid. So taking what he knew, he went out there to Ground Zero. While the rest of us was caught up in the media frenzy, sitting slack-jawed in front our TVs, all cozy and safe in our homes.There he was on the front line, helping out our city in our most tragic time. He was elbow to elbow with a couple of Marines as they dug out two Port Authority Policemen who were buried under the rubble; you remember the story from the movie World Trade Center.
Later he was taken into EMS care for heat inhalation from the smoky and still glowing debris. En route out of Ground Zero, former-Mayor Rudy Guiliani shook his hand and commended him on his heroism.
More then six years later, there he is next to me in EMT class. He showed me his picture from the New Yorker with him on a stretcher being treated by EMT's. Not much to the guy, besides his biceps the size of my head. No joke, they're gi-normous! But he's a real humble guy, kind of like a gentle giant.
His name is Nick Gerstle, and I'm proud to say I know the guy.
I'm on my way to becoming an EMT to make my mark as a hero. But here's this guy, only two years older than me, he has more than made his mark already; he has even worked side-by-side with other heroes. I feel like I'm standing next to Superman - um, a big half-German half-Samoan Superman.
So if some guy can come out and help others, especially when shit hits the fan, then why can't we?
Because we're busy? Nick was busy too. He had his sister and the rest of his family to look after. After all, he was just an engineer.
Because we're scared?
What's scarier than being on top of an unstable smoldering mountain of debris with gas pockets going off around you?!
If you have the heart to help, no one can stop you but yourself. And Nick said that we should do whatever we can do to help, we just go.
Just go.
You can read more on Nick's story here: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/america.remembers/stories/tower/nick.html
I know Nick Gerstle--I moved to NYC a year after 9-11. He is a fabulous, humble guy. I lost contact with him and have been looking for him. Your site came up in a Google search. If you happen to still have contact with him, will you tell him to contact me? rebeccacengiz at yahoo dot com. Thanks so much!