Quick-thinking teen praised as hero
Published: March 5, 2007
Thomas Rosati still doesn’t think what he did is remarkable.
But a lot of people, including a state senator, a television talk show host and — perhaps most important to him — his 84-year-old grandmother seem to agree that the Bellmore teen is a hero.
“It’s not a big deal,” he said Saturday from the rear deck overlooking the icy canal from which he pulled three brothers — Jacob Fortunato, 8, James Fortunato, 10, and Thomas Fortunato, 16, two weeks ago.
Rosati, 18, a senior at Kennedy High School in Bellmore awoke to his mother’s screams for help at about 11:15 a.m. on Feb. 18.
The boys, who were taking a short cut to a Dunkin’ Donuts, had been walking across the partially frozen canal when the ice gave way, sending the trio into the frigid water.
Barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and boxer shorts, Rosati ran from his second-floor bedroom down two flights of stairs and hopped a fence to get to the boys. He lay chest-down on the wooden dock, and pulled the boys to safety with his right hand, using his left hand for support.
Since the rescue, he’s been inundated with praise, with the latest plaudit coming yesterday from state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick), who presented Rosati with the Liberty Medal, one of the highest civilian honors that a New Yorker can receive, in a ceremony outside his home.
Producers from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” have invited Rosati to Los Angeles for a taping, tentatively scheduled for March 20, his mother said.
Representatives from the show couldn’t be reached yesterday. After the rescue, his grandmother, Angela Malachino, made hot chocolate and covered the three brothers with towels as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
On Saturday, she gushed about how proud she is. “Thomas didn’t even think twice,” she recalled of the rescue. “He’s such a good boy.”
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