The family of FDNY EMT Liam Glinane has a lot to be thankful for this holiday.
Glinane walked out of Mt. Sinai Hospital to the sound of bagpipes and thunderous applause Wednesday.
The 28-year EMS vet suffered a massive stroke while driving on the Brooklyn-Queens-Expressway on Oct. 17.
"Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I tell you, you couldn’t write this story any better,” Glinane, 63, said beaming outside the hospital on Fifth Ave.
Glinane was joined by FDNY EMS Lt. Raymond Wang, who in a crazy twist of fate, suffered an aortic aneurysm when he arrived at the scene to help Glinane.
“I’m so happy that I’m able to walk together with Liam,” said Wang, 47, who was released from Mt. Sinai on Oct. 30.
“You're looking at two of the luckiest New Yorkers in the city right now,” Glinane joked.
Both men were rushed to Mt. Sinai Queens after their freak medical episodes. Then they were transferred to the Manhattan hospital for more intense care.
"Essentially (Glinane) presented with paralysis of the left side of his body, inability to speak properly, and poor awareness of where he was in space and his location,” said Dr. Reade Deleacy. ‘It was an… incredibly serious illness."
The difference came after Deleacy took out a clot that blocked an artery in Glinane’s brain.
"He's doing incredibly well, walking under his own steam, talking, joking, hoping to get back to work. This is amazing,” Deleacy said.
Glinane had nothing but praise for Deleacy and the hospital staff that brought him back from the brink with surgery and a rigorous physical therapy routine.
"I'm self-sufficient, I'm not a burden, I'm back in the game. I've got another shot at life,” Glinane marveled.
“I would consider this our new FDNY Thanksgiving. We certainly have so much to be thankful for,” said Chief of FDNY EMS Lillian Bonsignore. “We almost lost two of our heroes, people who have spent their lives dedicating to other people, to save their lives. Today, we can see that that was given back to them.”
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