https://ideawaza.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=75.223.156.102IdeaWazaWiki - User contributions [en]2026-09-30T23:37:48ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.46.0https://ideawaza.com/index.php?title=Alcides_Moreno&diff=58775Alcides Moreno2008-01-19T07:01:20Z<p>75.223.156.102: wikification, add categories</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Alcides Moreno''' is a [[window washer]] who survived a fall of forty-seven [[Storey|stories]].<br />
<br />
On the morning of [[December 7]][[2007]], the [[window washer]]'s platform he and his brother Edgar were working on fell without warning from the 47th floor of an [[apartment building]] on [[66th Street (Manhattan)|66th Street]] in [[New York City]]. While his brother was killed on impact, Moreno survived despite severe injuries. Many, including Moreno's wife Rosario, have referred to his survival from the nearly {{convert|500|ft|lk=on|adj=on}} fall as a "[[miracle]]."<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/nyregion/04fall.html<br />
|title=‘Miraculous’ Recovery for Man Who Fell 47 Floors<br />
|first=James<br />
|last=Barron<br />
|publisher=New York Times<br />
|date=2008-01-07}}</ref> The fact that he didn't strike his head or break his [[pelvis]] during the fall is credited with saving his life.<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2181498/<br />
|title=How To Survive a 47-Story Fall: Make sure you land on your feet.<br />
|first=Melinda<br />
|last=Wenner<br />
|publisher=Slate<br />
|date=2008-01-07}}</ref><br />
<br />
Dr. Philip S. Barie, the chief of the division of [[Intensive care medicine|critical care]] at [[New York-Presbyterian Hospital]] where Moreno is being treated, has stated that the chances of surviving such a fall are well below 1%. The [[Mortality rate|death rate]] from even a three-story fall is about 50 percent, Barie said. People who fall more than 10 stories almost never survive.<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSz6k_1-Hp_nI1adkSvhYq3G4RGQD8TUO1VO1<br />
|title=Window Washer Who Fell 47 Floors Awake<br />
|first=DAVID B.<br />
|last=CARUSO<br />
|date=2008-01-07<br />
|publisher=Associated Press}}</ref> Moreno's survival has been attributed to the {{convert|16|ft|adj=on}} [[scaffolding]] platform that he clung to as he fell; its large [[surface area]] likely reduced his [[terminal velocity]], and there is the possibility that he was further slowed by [[crosswind]]s and by the platform striking the side of the building on the way down. The manner of his landing also helped; the scaffolding frame hit a wall and landed on a pile of twisted [[cable]]s that provided a better [[cushion]] for landing than plain [[concrete]], and based on his injuries (he broke both legs and his right arm) it appears his [[Limb (anatomy)|extremities]] absorbed the brunt of the impact.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/90686?GT1=10755| title=Falling Man: The physics of surviving a 500-foot plunge| first=Charles| last= Euchner | publisher=Newsweek Web| date=Jan 10, 2008}}</ref><br />
<br />
The story of survival was noted as far away as [[United Kingdom|the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/tim_hames/article3142140.ece<br />
|title=The Republicans in freefall? Don’t believe it: Our correspondent finds a political parallel in the story of a plummeting window cleaner<br />
|first=Tim<br />
|last=Hanes<br />
|publisher=The Times (UK)<br />
|date=2008-01-07}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno, Alcides}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Accidents]]<br />
[[Category:Ecuadorian-Americans]]<br />
[[Category:Fall survivors]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:People from New York City]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]</div>75.223.156.102