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Owner Of Car Damaged By Jumper: "I Miss It. It's My Baby."
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 2, 2010
Modified Sep 2, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 2, 2010
Modified Sep 2, 2010
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Maria McCormack lent her red Dodge Charger to her husband on Tuesday—only for the car to be totaled after cushioning the 39-story fall of an apparently suicidal man. She moaned to the Post, "I miss it. It's my baby... I want to meet [jumper Tom Magill] and say, 'Why? Why my car out of all the cars in the city?'"
Her husband Guy McCormack had parked the vehicle in the dead end next to 75 West End Avenue's West End Towers building. Witnesses say that Magill jumped from near the top of the building only to be saved by the red sports car. Maria McCormack said she's glad she didn't get the brakes done (she had a migraine!) and added that the only other time she lent her husband the car, a parking attendant damaged it. She also said, "I wonder how he feels now that he made it. Does he feel like an idiot? I hope he's OK. But I just want to know why."
So far, Magill's motives are a mystery, but it seems like he jumped out of 75 WEA resident Connor McKenna's 39th floor apartment. The Daily News reports, "Detectives told McKenna they found his apartment door open and believe Magill strode through the living room before reaching the balcony, on which a barbecue grill and potted plants sat undisturbed yesterday." The resident said, "It's surreal to know someone used your apartment to do this. The fact that he survived is something special."
Magill, 22, has undergone numerous surgeries. The News says, "Doctors inserted rods in his legs, rebuilt an ankle and stopped massive internal bleeding. He fell feetfirst, shattering much of his lower body and landing in a twisted heap. He survived without serious head injuries." And one surgeon who did not treat Magill but did treat window washer Alcides Morales who survived a 40-story plunge in 2007 told the News:
"The only way to survive is to not land on your head. You want to land feetfirst, or maybe on your side, which would spare your head and major organs..
You also need something to cushion the force of the impact - in this case, even the backseat would help... The key for [Magill] will be tosurvive the next two weeks, and get through any complications from the orthopedic injuries, like infections, embolisms, pneumonias. He gets through that - he has a real chance to make it."
Also, Guy McCormack sounds like a nice guy—even though insurance company Geico told him to sue Magill for the damages, McCormack refuses, "That's the last thing I need to tell this kid, that 'I'm suing you.'"
Tagged
Dodge Charger
fall
Guy McCormack
Jumper
miracle
Tom Magill
West End Avenue
West End Towers
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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