By Kim Janssen
Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — An off-duty paramedic’s act of good samaritanism nearly cost him his life Tuesday when falling ice split his head open near the Willis Tower.
The 20-year Chicago Fire Department veteran was helping a woman whose car had just been battered by another giant block of falling ice when he was struck, bringing several busy downtown blocks to a standstill as police set up roadblocks to prevent further injuries. Witness Patrick O’Brien, 37, was just feet away when the ice “suddenly hit,” knocking down the paramedic near the corner of Wells and Monroe around 2:30 p.m.
It was 2 feet by 1 foot, weighed between 20 and 30 pounds and left a bloody gash across the top of the paramedic’s head, O’Brien said. “There was ice falling all around us,” he said.
“The block that hit the woman’s car was bigger, around 80 pounds, it caved the roof — if it had hit someone this would not have had such a happy ending.” Fire Department Deputy District Chief Pat Brennan said the paramedic was in stable condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital Tuesday evening.
He never lost consciousness and should be OK, officials said. “He’s a good man — he doesn’t quit when the shift ends,” Brennan added. Office workers heading home from the Willis Tower Tuesday used briefcases to shield their heads as they navigated the sidewalks.
Melting ice could be seen falling from the tower and neighboring buildings but the danger lessened as temperatures fell later, Brennan said. Willis Tower spokesman Bill Utter said it wasn’t clear which building the ice that hit the paramedic came from.
O’Brien said he couldn’t tell, either. A few minutes after the gruesome accident, he heard the bandaged paramedic tell a colleague his off-duty heroics were “all part of the job,” he said.
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