Dylan and Terence Hoey (Photo by Sabina Mollot)
By Sabina Mollot
For Stuyvesant Town resident Terence Hoey, intense and unpredictable spasms, as well as crippling back pain, are simply facts of life. They’re both a result of chronic condition resulting from a back injury, which, on a recent morning, sent Hoey to the hospital for emergency treatment.
“People who have lower back pain — that’s a joy compared to what a spasm does to your body,” Hoey said in a recent conversation with Town & Village. And on the morning of Wednesday, March 18th, the day he went to the hospital, Hoey had about 50.
Hoey, who has since recovered from March 18th incident, said it was fortunate that his nine-year-old son, Dylan, was around at the time when he began having a spasm. Dylan, he said, called 911, when he was completely unable, due to feeling like he was going to pass out.
Hoey added that the severe spasms he had in the shower came just three days after another emergency hospital visit. That time, he’d been out of town with his family and a friend was the one to call 911 for his spasms. The more recent time, however, he was back home, and Dylan was the only other person at home when Hoey called out for help.
He recalled how, despite the pain, he managed to climb out of the shower. Dylan, a third grader at Immaculate Conception, quickly rushed to his dad’s side.
Hoey then instructed him to call 911. When Dylan asked if he should use his cell or the apartment phone, his father told him to use the apartment phone.
Dylan then did as instructed but soon found himself in the somewhat frustrating position of having to explain Stuyvesant Town’s street layout, specifically the lack of cross streets, to the 911 operator. “And that’s the first thing they ask you,” said Hoey. “Dylan said, ‘I’ll say it again, there are no cross streets, I’m telling you.’ I could almost hear him saying, ‘Google it.’”
Hoey isn’t sure how long this went on though naturally he feels it was “too long.” However, Dylan was eventually able to answer enough of the operator’s questions to get an ambulance sent to the family’s building near the Oval.
A few minutes after the call, Stuyvesant Town’s Public Safety officers arrived as well as police officers and emergency medical technicians.
“They rallied all the troops,” said Hoey, who described his state at the time as “semi-conscious.”
Dylan remembered that his father “was having trouble breathing. Air wasn’t getting to his head.”
But, Hoey noted, Dylan remained calm, answering responders’ questions and gathering his father’s military ID cards. Hoey, who now works as a regional law enforcement liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, is also a retired Navy master chief petty officer (MCPO).
Dylan later told T&V that he had just told himself over and over, “Be calm. Don’t worry.” When asked if this trick really worked, he admitted, “No.” But Dylan added that he had suspected his father might have spasms that day because his back pain was worse than usual.
“His back was really sore,” said Dylan. “I knew it was going to be really bad.”
Hoey, who doesn’t particularly enjoy discussing his back pain, said he agreed to discuss the latest bout in order to give credit where it was due. That would be to his son for “remembering his father-son training” and “springing into action” and also to Stuy Town’s Public Safety officers, who, he said, are always reliable.
“We’re very fortunate to have such a dedicated Public Safety Department,” said Hoey. “They’re always willing, ready and able to respond to such emergencies. We’re very grateful for the great work that they do.”
On the matter of the confusion over cross-streets, T&V reached out to the NYPD, the FDNY and the mayor’s office to ask if emergency responders were familiar with the layout of Stuyvesant Town, since any confusion during a 911 call could delay a response. Of the three agencies, only two responded. A rep for the mayor’s office admitted, as of T&V’s deadline, that he didn’t know, but would look into it. A spokesperson for the FDNY responded to say, “FDNY units are very familiar with the layout and addresses of Stuyvesant Town.”
Tagged: back spasms, emergency, FDNY, nypd, public safety, Stuyvesant oval
