Paramedics Who Saved Shot Teen Call Recovery a "Miracle"

since taking a stray bullet to the skull in November, 16-year-old Vada Vasquez called attention to the paramedics who saved her life, telling the Daily News she was "just really happy" someone was holding her hand as she was lying on the sidewalk with blood pouring out of her head. That someone was paramedic Pierre Ramos, and the News tracked him down yesterday for an interview made even more heartwarming in light of this week's other story, of EMTs who allegedly turned their back on a dying woman.

"It feels awesome," Ramos, 28, told the News. "It helps you want to get up in the morning and keep coming back to work. I'm very surprised at how well she's doing... Whenever you see an injury of this type, you don't normally see an outcome this good." Vasquez was caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting while waiting for the bus with a friend after school on November 16th. The bullet entered her brain and she was kept in medically-induced coma for weeks, but earlier this week she returned home and seems to be on the mend.

"That's a miracle in itself to be awake and talking," said Ramos's partner, Cricilus Moore, a 13-year veteran. "I consider myself pretty battle-hardened. I was at the [World] Trade Center and I've seen a lot of horrible things in my career, but when the mother looked at us and started crying, everybody started crying."