By Allison Pries | NJ.com
NEW YORK — It’s being hailed as a moment that captured the true spirit of New York, but the woman at the center of it is from New Jersey.
Simone Kelly, a Maplewood resident and member of the South Orange Rescue Squad, was at the New York Knicks’ NBA championship parade in Manhattan on Thursday when she saved the life of a man who appeared to have overdosed.
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Another parade attendee, Peter Shrieve-Don, said he noticed a man had passed out on a canopy covering the entrance to the Chambers Street subway station.
Shrieve-Don, who was wearing an Insta360 camera, posted video to his Instagram page of him notifying an NYPD officer about the man in distress. When no action was taken by authorities, Shrieve-Don climbed onto the roof, after being told he would get in trouble for doing so, and tried to rouse the man.
“I went up because the guy went out hard, no one was doing anything, and there wasn’t time,“ he said on Instagram. ”Once I did get to him, it was clear that it was serious enough to require someone who knew more than me.”
Kelly and others also climbed up to help the man. She administered a Narcan nose spray and the man regained consciousness, video of the incident showed.
"@simmykelly you are a hero and you forever have my gratitude,“ Shrieve-Don wrote in his post about Kelly.
Video and photos taken by Instagram user Agen Xin show Kelly cradling the man so that he was sitting upright after he regained consciousness. More Knicks fans helped lower the man from the canopy.
“I want to emphasize how amazing you did at controlling the scene, administrating care and Narcan, and then directing getting him safely down. I was in awe of how you stepped in and immediately took charge, so that he got exactly what he needed. You’re amazing!!,” a commenter said of Kelly in a reply on Instagram.
Kelly did not immediately respond to an NJ.com request to comment.
Kelly is hoping her now-viral heroics will help her get into medical school, according to the New York Post.
“Instagram engagement is great but who can get my name to medical school admission committees,” Kelly wrote on social media.
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