Chicago Tribune

02 AUG 2014
O Duty New
York Paramedic
Killed
By CARLOS SADOVI
Private Damian S. LeMontagne
had seen the damage speeding cars
inict.
Hed pulled people from crushed
metal, revived some of them and
helped extinguish blazing wrecks. It
was his job as a New York City Fire-
Rescue Paramedic for the last ve
years, and he loved it.
Early Friday morning, Mr.
LeMontagne was killed when a sus-
pected drunken driver sped through a
red light in Arlington and plowed into
his Dodge with such force it ripped
the car in half.
Mr. LeMontagne, 26, of Stony
Brook, New York died at the scene.
Fire - Rescue Paramedics from
dierent stations arrived to nd his
EMS jacket, boots and other gear
strewn across the road. Mr. LeMon-
tagne, who was o-duty at the time
visiting friends and family in Illinois,
was thrown from the car when the im-
pact snapped his seat belt, medical
service ocials said.
Some of the paramedics recog-
nized him and tried in vain to resus-
citate him.
"We go to these runs all the
time where drunk drivers hit peo-
ple," said Lt. Diane Martinez-Ball,
Mr. LeMontagnes uncle who works
for the Arlington Heights re depart-
ment. "The scene itself was just hor-
ric."
"Its just hard for everybody,"
said Lt. David G. Roberts, who was
not one of the responding ocers on
Friday. "Its a devastating loss."
Mr. LeMontagne was heading
home after visiting an uncle. His
EMS gear was in the car because he
had worked a shift Thursday at a dif-
ferent station with a friend from the
EMS Arlington re department.
At 155 a.m., he was southbound
on Wickrell Hill Road when a Chevro-
let sedan heading west on Illinois Av-
enue sped through a red light at the
intersection and slammed into his car.
The driver of the Chevrolet,
Michael G. Pegliasco, 32, of Bloom-
ington was charged with intoxication
manslaughter with a motor vehicle,
police said. He was not injured in
the crash. A 27-year-old woman who
was a passenger in the Chevrolet was
taken to Northwest Community Hos-
pital with minor injuries, police said.
As of Friday afternoon, Mr.
Pegliasco was being held at the Ar-
lington Heights Police Department.
His bail was set at $100,000, sheris
records show.
Mr. LeMontagne was hired in
2014 and had worked at Stony Brook
Hospital on Long Island, New York
since May, said Lt. J.A. Brown, a
supervisor at the station. He was as-
signed to a rescue truck.
Mladen Lukic quickly became
friends with Mr. LeMontagne when
the two were rookies trying to get
through training together. It turned
out they lived near each other and
their families became close.
Mr. Lukic, 28, said his friend
loved the adrenaline rush that came
with the job. But he was most proud
of being able to help people, he said.
"Theres a sense of accomplish-
ment, a sense of pride, if you bring
someone back," Mr. Lukic said.
"You could tell from his face it would
just light up."
Everyone loved Mr. LeMontagne,
who was quiet and reserved until you
got to know him thats when he would
open up, Mr. Lukic said.
"He was a funny character," he
said. "If you needed something, he
would help you."
Mr. LeMontagne was nominated
for rookie of the year, and his perfor-
mance evaluations describe him as a
dedicated worker who was well-liked
and always on time.
"One of the hardest-working re-
cruits weve had," a battalion chief
wrote in a 2014 review.
Mr. Lukic said his friend also
loved kids and would spend a lot of
time with the Burn Unit children and
trauma kids a lot he would make a
great father one day.
"He was the kind of guy who was
involved with kids everyday," he said.
He said his mother and sister are
holding up well under the circum-
stances. A memorial fund will be es-
tablished for the children in his name,
thats what he would of wanted, he
said.
Mr. Lukic said he will miss his
friend, whom he had lunch with on
Monday the last time he saw him.
"We were best buddies. Hes my
brother, thats the way I see him," he
said.
A Mom has also spoken today of
how she owes her life to Mr. LeMon-
tagne the o-duty paramedic who
saved her after she suered a cardiac
arrest on the treadmill at the gym on
a Thursday afternoon. She was near-
ing the end of her run when she col-
lapsed. In a twist of fate, the only
other person in the gym at the time
was paramedic Damian S. LeMon-
tagne.
He started CPR on the 54-year-
old after seeing her slumped on the
treadmill and shouted for a member
of sta to call an ambulance witnesses
have reported.
I realised that something was very
wrong. My chest was feeling very
constricted, Mary said. I tried to stop
the machine, but it wasnt stopping
quick enough.
I was trying to breathe and thats
the last thing I remember. I just fell
and my heart stopped.
That was the point when my
hero came to the rescue and started
to administer CPR very aggressively.
There was no breathing or pulse and
my lips had started to go blue.
Mary, who is married to Richard
and is mum to Sarah, 33, has since
been told there is a less than three per
cent chance of survival when a cardiac
Chicago Tribune 02 AUG 2014 2
arrest occurs outside of a hospital.
She added At that time there were
two people left in the gym, myself
and him. I cant emphasise strongly
enough, the importance of that. Had
I gone in the morning, he wouldnt
have been there.
It was almost like fate led me
to be late going to the gym. He
saved my life. It is something that
will never happen again. Tests at
NCH Fast Care in Palatine showed
that Mary has a degenerative heart
problem, which required open heart
surgery to repair, and she has had a
synthetic valve inserted in her aorta.
The same condition claimed the
lives of her dad and grandad, who
both died aged 49, and her uncle who
was 54. The good thing is that I died
in the right place, Mary said. It has
enabled my daughter and her cousin
to be tested, so it may turn out that
he has not only saved my life but
theirs as well, she said with tears in
her eyes as she remembers the hero
that saved her life.
"We all did the same job we lived
with each other. Some of these guys
are with each other more than there
family. You cant help but create that
bond. It is a family. A family left
grieving the deaths of one of its own,"
says Andy Wilson, owner of Ambu-
lance Service.
Co-workers say they never ex-
pected such a tragedy would happen
in their family. "You work wrecks ev-
ery day or every other day. Its dif-
ferent when its family. Thats what
you are doing working on your fam-
ily," says Niegelberg.
Reuters
International
Moose Count
Underway
By BOB OBOBSTON
The UN-sponsored International
Moose Census got o to a ying
start today with hopes for an increase
in the worldwide moose population
compared to last years disapointing
gures. Among the traditional early
reporters were Egypt, returning g-
ures of six moose, a twenty percent
increase on 2011s gures of ve, and
Uruguay whose moose population re-
mains stable at eleven.
According to Robbie McRobson,
head of the UN Moose Preserva-
tion Council, worldwide moose num-
bers are expected to grow markedly
on last year due to the traditional
moose strongholds of Canada and the
United States, with the larger de-
veloping moose ecologies also poised
to make gains. The largest percent-
agege increase in moose will likely
come from China, says McRobson,
The Chinese government has invested
heavily in moose infrastructure over
the past decade, and their committ-
ment to macrofauna is beginning to
pay dividends. Since 2004 China has
expanded moose pasture from 1.5%
of arable land to nearly 3.648% and
moose numbers are expected to rise
to 60,000 making China a net moose
exporter for the rst time. This is
good news for neighbouring Mongo-
lia, a barren moose-wasteland whose
inhabitents nonetheless have an insa-
tiable desire for the creatures. The in-
crease in Beijing-Ulanbataar trade is
anticipated to relieve pressure on the
relatively strained Russian suppliers,
but increase Mongolias imbalance of
trade with its larger neighbour.
Historically the only competitor
to China in the far eastern moose
markets has been Singapore but the
tiny island nation is set to report a
net loss, expecting a decrease of more
than ve percent on last years 50,000
moose counted. The head of Singa-
pores Agency for Agriculture, Jing-
Feng Lau, explained to an incredu-
lous Singaporean parliament yester-
day that bad weather had contributed
to this seasons poor showing, most
notably when a cargo of 150 moose
were swept out into the Indian ocean
in a monsoon.
Yet again the global demand for
moose will be met largely by the
US and Canada. The recession-hit
States is taking comfort in its moose
growth gures with gross production
expected to break 700,000 and net ex-
ports to grow by 2%. The worldwide
dominance of Canada shows no signs
of abating though with this years
moose population expected to match
last years record gures of one hun-
dred million billion.
Europes rise as an international
moose power will slow slightly this
year as a response to the European
Unions move towards standardising
the European moose. Stringent qual-
ity controls are holding back the de-
velopment of the eastern european
populations compared to last year
when they contributed signicantly
to europes strong growth gures.
Norway, which is not an EU member
but has observer status, strengthed
in numbers relative to the Euro area
with numbers of Norweigian moose,
known locally as elk expected to rise
for the tenth consecutive year, partic-
ularly thanks to a strong showing in
the last quarter.
As moose season reaches its close,
researchers world wide are turning to
science in an attempt to boost next
years gures. NASA stunned the
scientic community today with the
announcment of their discovery that
the moon is signicantly smaller than
previously believed. This conclusion,
which is the conclusion of a ten-
year collaborative project, will have
profound implications for the moose
community as the gravitational eld
is now known to be of the right
strength to support moose in orbit.
According to John Johnson, head
of the NASA Moon Sizing Experi-
ment the rst delivery of moose into
low moon orbit could be achieved as
early as the third quarter of next year.
The technology to nurture moose in
space is available now, he said, all
that is needed is political will.
Granny wins
World Wrestling
Championship
By ROY MCROYSTON
Records were smashed in
Nicaraguas World Wrestling Cham-
Chicago Tribune 02 AUG 2014 3
pionship last night as 78-year-old
Maud Johnson, grandmother of ve,
became the rst woman for fty-six
years, and the oldest competitor ever,
to claim the gold medal. She walked
away with her million dollar share of
the prize money, runner up Tommy
Thompson from Nigeria taking half a
million, and third place New Zealan-
der John Smith receiving a warm
handshake from the umpire.
Having started the tournament a
rank outsider she began to impress
in her second match when she took
US number three Ron Ronson by sur-
prise and subdued him in twenty sec-
onds with her unique move that has
been dubbed "Mauds Death Grip".
The injection of a new wrestling style
into the tournament was welcomed
by spectators and Johnsons pre- and
post-match breakdances have proved
entertaining to fans. However, she
was still not expected to win in
round three last Wednesday, facing
o against title-holder Paulo "Spine-
Snapper" Lutti, of Vatican City. Un-
derdog Johnson was soon showing her
worth with stamina and agility easily
matching last years winner. Luttis
experience paid o initially as he took
the rst two rounds, but as John-
son became more condent her su-
perior strength came to the fore and
she clawed back two rounds to take
the contest into a decider. By this
time Luttis body language indicated
that he already felt overawed by the
pretender to his crown, and the new-
comer took advantage of this to en-
gage a mutual headlock which she
held for three hours until the Vat-
ican man retired from exhaustion.
The next seven matches were barely
a contest as the news of Johnsons
supremacy overawed all her oppo-
nents who became too indimidated to
ght properly.
Nigerian Tommy Thompson is
also a relative newcomer to the
wrestling scene, but with his 210lb
frame he was expected to fare well
against Johnson who weighs in at
only 90lb. However Johnsons lithe
and slender, some would say scrawny,
gure belies her agility and strength
which she demonstrated by holding
Thompson above her head several
times during the bout and throwing
him into the crowd once. With the
scores tied at 2-2 time ran out and the
contest went to a panel of judges to be
assessed. They awarded Thompson a
C grade whilst Johnson received an
A, becoming the rst grandmother to
ever win the title.
The new champion explained her
success as the result of a strict train-
ing regimen instituted by her coach
and grandson ve-year-old Sammy
Johnson. "Ive been drinking ten
raw eggs for breakfast every morning,
sprinting fty miles a day and carry-
ing my daughters car to the end of
the road and back whenever I felt my
arthritis was OK" she said. Sammy
added "I always knew she could do
it. Shes my grandma.". The young-
ster is also her manager and has re-
portedly arranged sponsorship deals
which will dwarf her one million dol-
lar prize fund. Her new contract with
headband designer Nike alone is set
to earn her fourteen billion dollars
over the next year. She will also be
promoting Tupperware, Halliburton,
the Republic of Macedonia, and Gala
Bingo. Her continued participation in
the sport is not assured as she wants
to spend more time on her bungee-
jumping business, and knitting. Ev-
eryone here at the World Champi-
onships, however, hopes for her re-
turn.