A man achieved what many call a ‘medical miracle’ by surviving a fall from a 472-foot skyscraper. Alcides Moreno, a window cleaner from New York, fell 47 stories in 2007 and lived to recount his experience.
Watching window cleaners work on tall buildings might make one ponder how they maintain composure at such dizzying heights. Alcides, who worked alongside his brother Edgar, shared that he ‘loved’ the job and took satisfaction in making windows spotless.
“I loved to see the windows really clean,” he told BBC. “I liked the water and the soap, how you press the squeegee. We would start at the top and clean all the way to the bottom, I loved it.”
In December 2007, Moreno embarked on a job to clean the Solow Tower’s windows in the Upper East Side. The day took a devastating turn.
While Alcides and Edgar were on their suspended platform, which facilitated movement between windows and floors, the cables that held it ‘slipped from their attachment point,’ per the United States Department of Labor accident report, causing them to fall.
Tragically, Edgar sustained critical injuries after landing on a wooden surface and did not survive.
Alcides, however, was discovered amidst a heap of metal, still clutching the scaffolding controls, unable to stand.
Following his swift transport to the hospital, Alcides was placed in a coma so his injuries could be fully evaluated.
He suffered severe trauma to his brain, spinal column, chest, and abdomen, along with multiple fractures to his ribs, arm, and legs.
Remarkably, on Christmas Day, Alcides awoke, with his wife by his side.
Though he faced a lengthy recuperation process, Alcides survived, an event that medical professionals have hailed as a ‘miracle’.
But what contributed to Alcides surviving such a fall when typically, falling from merely three stories has a survival rate of 50%? It’s thought that the scaffolding played a pivotal role, reducing the fall’s force.
Entrepreneur Cody Alt elaborated on Twitter: “The scaffolding became his unlikely savior. Riding the scaffolding during the fall may have helped distribute the impact force. This spreading of force across his body, rather than concentrating it in one area.”
Alt also mentioned the significance of ‘terminal velocity’, noting: “As Alcides fell, he reached a point where gravity’s pull equaled air resistance. This slightly reduced the impact force compared to a direct free fall.”
In an insightful conversation with Morgan Freeman on The Story Of God, Alcides reflected on the profound sorrow of losing his brother.
“My brother is a big loss,” he said. “[We were] really, really close.”
He further expressed to the BBC: “Losing him was a big deal for me.”
“Edgar lived with me in New Jersey and we shared a lot of things. He worked with me and died working with me. I believe I felt melancholic for about three years. That’s how long it took me to recover and accept his death. It was like losing a child, because he was younger than me.”