Carl John Bedigian Risk-Taker Saved Lives
As a Donor and Firefighter Carl Bedigian was
a giver-and a risk-taker. About six years ago, Bedigian donated
bone marrow for a child in either Italy or Greece who had leukemia,
his wife, Michelle, recalled. "The child is still alive," she
said. She hadn't remembered the donation until she was asked for
a DNA sample to possibly help identify Bedigian, whose team from
Engine 214 from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, was believed to
be between the two World Trade Center towers before the collapse
following the attacks on Sept. 11. "I remembered there was tissue
at home." Bedigian, 35, was born in Jamaica and grew up in the
Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. He attended St. Cecelia's grammar
school and Thomas Edison High School. After graduation, he worked
as an electrician for the Transit Authority for 12 years, and
about seven years ago, became a firefighter, assigned to Sunset
Park, Brooklyn. He and Michelle were married a year ago in Sacred
Heart Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and were looking for a home
in that area. Michelle Bedigian said that her husband was committed
to firefighting. "He had contracted a virus that left him temporarily
paralyzed a few years ago, and he had to retake the firefighter's
exam to be re-admitted to the department." A week after the terrorist
attack, Michelle met with some of the firefighters who knew her
husband. "I told them that all you guys are gamblers, and the
odds are always against you. But you still do it. I'm not giving
up hope." --Steve Zipay (Newsday)
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