He’s laughing, joking, recovering well – and dreaming of going back to firefighting.
That was the good word yesterday from the family of critically injured firefighter Joseph Moore, who was thrown from his firetruck as it whipped around a corner en route to a blaze on the Upper East Side a month ago today.
“He’s doing extraordinarily well,” the firefighter’s mom, Margaret, said yesterday, as the 26-year-old celebrated the new year at his family’s Belle Harbor, Queens home.
“He’s in good spirits,” the relieved mother said. “He’s spending the holiday with family and friends. He still wants to be a firefighter. His dedication and commitment to it – we don’t quite understand, but it’s amazing.”
In falling from the cab of the speeding truck, Moore struck his head on the pavement of Lexington Avenue at East 85th Street, just half a block from his firehouse, Ladder Co. 13. He wound up in intensive care with serious head injuries.
Moore, a three-year FDNY veteran, still has no memory of the accident, which has been attributed to a faulty door on an outdated truck. But he has made amazing progress since returning home on Thursday, his mother said.
“It’s difficult to say what the long-term effects are going to be,” his mother said.
But for now, he’s working hard in outpatient rehab and taking strength from the cards, calls and prayers from his FDNY colleagues and other New Yorkers, she said.
“The outpouring of love and support has been tremendous,” she said.