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For more than three decades, Deirdre Taylor only knew the firefighter who saved her life through the black-and-white photos on the front page of the New York Daily News, on Dec. 30, 1983.
She was only 4 then, a blond, wide-eyed toddler pictured in the paper in the arms of the firefighter, Eugene Pugliese, who had just carried her out of her burning apartment building. Taylor, now a registered nurse in Alexandria, Virginia, kept the Daily News article for years. She wished as she got older that she could find Pugliese and thank him-a desire that intensified after she became an emergency room nurse, as she learnedhow rare it was to hear back from patients she encountered on the worst days of their lives.
But she hadn't lived in New York since the fire, and didn't know where to start. She periodically searched his name on Google, finding nothing. Finally, in March, Taylor thought she may have one last chance to find him. With her family's support, she decided to move from Virginia to New York for eight weeks to work in an overwhelmed Manhattan emergency room- trying to help save the lives of coronavirus patients, while searching for the man who saved hers.
“When I was packing my bags, I packed the Daily News article with me, ① “ Taylor, 40, said, “and I told myself that one of the things I'm going to accomplish while I'm here is track him down, or track a family member down, and just say thank you. “
Pugliese, 75, had never had someone track him down to say thank you before, he said. For decades, the Daily News front-page article hung in his office. How could he forget Deirdre? “I've had her picture on my wall for 24 years,” he said.
He remembers the day clearly. It began when a man came running up yelling that there was a fire. Pugliese rushed to the burning building, where thick smoke was pouring out of a sixth-floor apartment. He went into and found it engulfed in flames. Taylor's mother was crying, “My baby! My baby!” Pugliese remembered. He quickly helped her out of the room before returning on his hands and knees, crawling through the burning studio and blinding smoke for about six feet, when he felt the child. She was unconscious. He carried her to the living room, where he gave her mouth-to-mouth breath to bring her back. He rushed down the six flights of stairs to get her to an ambulance, when to Pugliese's relief, she woke up and started to cry. “ ② I was just in the right place at the right time,” Pugliese said. Pugliese later received a medal for Taylor's rescue, in a ceremony that is among his most prized memories.
Taylor's first two weeks in New York were overwhelming, as she and her colleagues dealt with patient after patient struggling to breathe. During her time off, she tried on one occasion to go to the firehouse where Pugliese worked, only to find a sign on the door discouraging visitors due to covid-19. But finally, last week, Taylor caught a break. A group of firefighters came to the ER to deliver the medical staff pizzas for dinner, to show their appreciation. Taylor explained to them that she was trying to find a likely retired fireman from Ladder No. 20, and did they have any suggestions on how to start?
One of the firemen gave her a phone number to connect her with the fire chief.
“Oh, Gene?” the chief told her. “He stops by the firehouse all the time.”
“ ③ “ Taylor said, “I couldn't believe it. I really didn't think he was still going to be around. I really thought I was going to hit a dead end.” He said, “Yeah, I have his phone number in my cellphone.”
The chief phoned Pugliese right away. Less than an hour later, Taylor's phone rang. “It's Gene Pugliese,” he said. “I'm the firefighter who rescued you that day.” Finally, Taylor told him what she had been meaning to say. Taylor said she could only describe the moment as surreal. Pugliese asked if her hair was still blond. It was. He told her the story of the fire, and she told him the story of her life afterward. They learned they had plenty in common. Both were die-hard Yankees fans. Both spent time in the military.
After the call, Pugliese said, “ ④ I cried for the rest of the day.”
