Monday, September 15, 2008

Cable guy turns van into ambulance

Albert Audain was lauded as a hero Saturday for rushing Queens toddler Joshua Rodriguez and his mother to the hospital after the boy suffered a seizure.

"I ran out of the house with my baby in my arms," said Joshua's mom, Evelyn Rodriguez, 27, of Woodside. "I had to make it to the hospital."

Audain, a Time Warner Cable repairman, was on the sidewalk heading to his company van Aug. 28 when he heard Rodriguez screaming for help.

Audain skipped company procedure - which says no one except a Time Warner employee can ride in the vehicle - and told Rodriguez to jump in.

"I just put pedal to the metal," said Audain. "It's normally a 10-minute drive from here [to Elmhurst Hospital Center]. I made it in two to three minutes."


Ready, willing & (c)able, repairman comes to the rescue

The good Samaritan and Rodriguez were reunited Saturday for the first time since the incident to celebrate Joshua's third birthday. Rodriguez said her son - an only child who loves cars and baseball - is now in good health.

"When someone needs help, you're supposed to help him," said Audain, who doesn't have any kids of his own. "I don't feel like I'm a hero."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate to say it, but calling 911 is a better idea. An ambulance can get you there faster than a private citizen and with far less risk of an accident. This guy made a ten minute drive in two or three minutes - that sounds pretty unsafe.

Anonymous said...

Next time your child is God forbid severely ill and you have no idea what's wrong then you can say that.

I have called 911 and have seen it take almost 5 minutes. That's life or death right there...

Anonymous said...

I wonder if she has health insurance...

dads8t2 said...

. . . can't wait to hear the repercussions from TWC.

Anonymous said...

dave... you're a jerk!

Anonymous said...

. . . can't wait to hear the repercussions from TWC.

Update:

No repercussions. He was blessed by them as well... I know first hand cause I work for them too.

Anonymous said...

Like the above, I work for TWC also. On our Human Resources page, the tech is seen with the young kid both smiling.

This is the article on our website:

Repair service. Save a life. Apparently it’s all in a day’s work if you’re a TWC technician. At least that was the case when Queens service technician Albert Audain witnessed a woman come rushing out of her house screaming that her young son was dying. As soon as Albert saw the limp and unresponsive child, he knew he needed to act quickly. Without hesitation, he put “pedal to the metal” and raced mother and child to Elmhurst Hospital.

Happily, all’s well that ends well. Little Joshua celebrated his third birthday last weekend and was reunited with his hero.