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Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A 23-year-old Kings Park man who doctors were ready to pronounce dead multiple times following a catastrophic motorcycle crash near the Sunken Meadow Parkway has reunited — for the first time since that night — with the first responder who saved his life, according to a report by the New York Post.
A 23-year-old economics student at Farmingdale State College was riding his Ducati motorcycle when he collided with a pickup truck near the Sunken Meadow Parkway in September 2025. He was left bleeding out at the scene. A Commack EMT — who also serves as an NYPD officer — arrived first and began treating the victim before he was rushed to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore.
The New York Post reports that a Northwell trauma surgeon described the scene in the ER: “He was just spilling blood out onto the floor. We actually need suction devices on the floor. He lost about 10 liters.” A team of nearly 50 doctors and medical workers fought to keep the victim alive through relentless internal bleeding from his chest. A cardiothoracic surgeon said the victim’s heart stopped multiple times that night, and the surgeon manually pumped the organ with his bare hands while the victim’s chest was fully open. “That’s as dead as someone could be and really just somehow survive it. It was really not like nothing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been doing this 15 plus years now,” the surgeon told the Post.
Doctors performed a “clam shell” incision — cutting open the victim’s entire chest from lungs to heart — which had to be resealed and reopened more than once. Additional surgeries were performed directly at his ICU bedside because moving him to an operating room was deemed too dangerous. “When I woke up, it was kind of like it was an ‘oh crap’ moment,” the survivor said. “I don’t have any memory of any of it actually occurring.”
Despite the severity of his injuries, the survivor is back on his feet. He had to relearn how to walk and climb stairs during recovery but is already back attending Farmingdale State College. “I had to learn how to walk again and go upstairs again. … I had no clue how to do it anymore,” he said. “Now at this point, it’s something I don’t think twice about.”
On May 21, 2026, the survivor attended South Shore University Hospital’s “EMS Heroes Night” — and came face to face with the EMT for the first time since the crash. While the survivor had previously met and thanked other members of the medical team who kept him alive at the hospital, the EMT was the one person he had not yet been able to personally thank. “It just goes to show how much EMTs do for everyone, even if you don’t necessarily realize it yourself,” the survivor said at the event. The EMT, reflecting on the reunion, said: “I see crazy stuff, but I never get to actually meet anybody I’ve saved. It’s very rewarding.”
Also honored that evening was a 54-year-old gym owner from Bayport, who suffered a stroke at a local fitness center on the same night as the motorcyclist’s crash. EMTs from the Community Ambulance Company in Sayville responded to her 911 call. Her neurologist told the Post she had been facing complete left-sided paralysis and likely being bed-bound for the rest of her life. “Every single minute the brain doesn’t get blood supply, 2 million neurons die, so 5 minutes — that’s 10 million neurons, that’s significant disability,” the neurologist said. The stroke survivor is now dealing with only minimal residual effects and is back working out. After her release, she personally visited the Sayville station house to thank the EMTs who responded. The motorcyclist’s survivor was surprised to learn that the stroke rescue had occurred just hours before his own that same night.
Location & Road Context
The crash took place near the Sunken Meadow Parkway, a state parkway running along the north shore of Suffolk County that connects Kings Park and the surrounding area to the broader Long Island parkway system. The roadway sees frequent motorcycle and high-speed travel incidents, particularly during warmer months. South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore serves as a Level 1 trauma center for the region, which proved critical given the severity of the victim’s injuries.