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Woman Uses Breast Milk To Put Out Burning Amputee Set On Fire By Teens
News Edition: 05/21/2005
A real-life supermom used a bottle of breast milk to douse an amputee yesterday after his wheelchair was set ablaze by punks on a Staten Island bus, cops said.
The nursing mother's fast actions helped save Vietnam vet Francis Abrams, 57, from becoming a human torch, and stopped the fire from engulfing the S-54 bus, police and the victim said.
"It was put out with breast milk," said a police source, who was awed by the bizarre incident that happened just after 11 a.m.
Abrams, who lost his left leg in Vietnam, said he was minding his own business as he rode the city bus to the Staten Island Mall to buy a video of "The Exorcist."
Just after he boarded the bus, three teens playing hooky from Tottenville High School pulled a cruel prank, cops said.
"They set my chair on fire," an angry Abrams said last night, refusing to allow photographers to take pictures of his face. "They thought it was a joke."
Cops said the teens used a cigarette lighter to ignite a plastic bag hanging from the back of Abrams' motorized wheelchair.
The flames quickly engulfed the bag, containing the Greek classics "Odyssey" and "Iliad."
As the fire spread to Abrams' jacket, he screamed: "Water!"
As her baby looked on, the new mom and a friend sprang into the action, dousing the fire with a freshly pumped bottle of breast milk and another bottle of water, authorities said.
The back of Abrams' wheelchair was slightly melted by the fire, but he was not harmed thanks to the nursing mother.
"I said, 'Thank you,'" Abrams said.
When bus driver Deborah Thompson spotted the fire, she wheeled the bus to a stop at Crossfield Ave. and Arthur Kill Road in Greenridge, officials said.
But as she called 911, the three fire-starters bolted.
Cops from the 123rd Precinct got a detailed description of the suspects from Thompson and Abrams and quickly found the pranksters.
The names of the suspects were not released because of their ages. All of them are 15. They were charged with arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, authorities said.
Asked about the fire being extinguished with breast milk, Abrams bristled, "I don't care. It doesn't bother me."
Courtesy of: NYDailyNews
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