It wasn't all bad
A window cleaner who fell 47 stories in Manhattan is not only alive and talking but may walk again. Alcides Moreno survived a 500-foot plunge when his platform collapsed on Dec. 7; the accident killed his brother, Edgar. Though he was near death for two weeks, on Christmas Day Moreno spoke and reached out to touch his nurse’s face. Moreno’s doctors now say his recovery could be complete within a year. “If you are a believer in miracles, this would be one,” said Dr. Philip Barie, chief of critical care at New York–Presbyterian Hospital. “Above 10 stories, most of the time, we never see the patients because they usually go to the morgue.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.