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47-Story Fall Survivor Has Back Surgery

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

NEW YORK - A window washer who has made a surprising recovery from a 47-story fall underwent another operation Friday, and the surgeon said "everything went smoothly."

The window washer, Alcides Moreno, 37, "did remarkably well," said the surgeon, John Boockvar, an assistant professor of neurological surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Boockvar said the 3 1/2 -hour operation had stabilized Moreno's spinal column, reducing the risk of neurological injury when he begins to move or walk.

Moreno had a broken lumbar vertebra, one of the largest parts of the movable segments of the spinal column, Boockvar said, but his spinal cord was intact and showed no sign of injury.

Moreno suffered injuries to his brain, chest and abdomen, along with several broken ribs, a broken right arm and broken legs in the Dec. 7 fall.

Moreno and his brother Edgar, 30, were on a scaffold at the apartment building when the platform gave way. Edgar Moreno was killed.

The New York Times

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