Cicilia Lillo, of North Babylon, said that when she first met
the man who would become her husband, he would barely give her
the time of day. Now she knows for certain that Carlos Lillo would
give his life for her. Because he did. Ginny Quinn, of Bayside,
was a single mom when she met the man who would complete her family.
Now, she is trying to tell their son that his father, Ricardo
Quinn, died trying to save people he never knew. The city's corps
of Fire Department emergency medical technicians lost two members
in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Lillo and Quinn are
the women they left behind. On duty in Astoria, Carlos Lillo,
37, was mobilized to One World Trade Center, where Cicilia worked
for the Port Authority on the 64th floor. When the couple could
not reach each other by cell phone, Carlos went into the building
to find her. "I was trying to tell him that I got out and not
to worry about me," said Lillo, 35. "I
know he was my hero, because I was in there and he was trying
to save me." She met Carlos in 1982, when they were students at
Long Island City High School. He was in a relationship and they
never dated. They met again at a New Year's Eve party 15 years
later, and by that June decided to move in together. He proposed
at their housewarming party. They married last year in Jamaica.
Ricardo Quinn, 40, was off duty when terrorists struck, but rushed
to the burning Twin Towers to join the rescue effort. "I knew
he was there, that's Ricardo," Ginny Quinn said. "I'm so proud
of him, that he went there to help people. He just didn't make
it out." Quinn, 48, met her husband at Jones Beach, where each
had come with a son from a prior marriage. They married and nine
years ago had a son, Kevin. Wednesday, she told him. "He looked
at me. I'll never forget the expression on his face," Quinn said.
"He said, 'Do you mean Daddy's dead?' " Six other paramedics and
EMTs are missing, including staff from Cornell Medical Center,
Cabrini Medical Center, Hunter Ambulance, Metro Care, and Hatzolah.
-- Martin C. Evans (Newsday)
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