by Dorian Block and Robert F. Moore
One of the elite firefighters injured when a taxi rammed an FDNY truck on the upper West Side could be released from the hospital within days - but his more seriously injured comrade remained in critical condition yesterday. Manhattan Rescue 1 firefighters John Walters, 37, and Mike Schunk, 41, were both hit by the out-of-control cab at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday on Columbus Ave. near W. 71st St. Schunk, a married father of a 2-year-old girl, broke his right tibia, requiring a rod to be placed in his leg. He could be released from New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell by early next week, officials said. But Walters' recovery was less predictable. "It's going to be a long time," a fire official said at Bellevue Hospital, where Walters remained in critical condition. Walters, who lives in Port Washington, L.I., with his wife, was pinned between the cab and the double-parked fire truck. His legs were crushed. Asked when Walters could return to his firehouse, the fire official, who asked not to be identified, said he was not certain. "Maybe never," he said. "We don't know." Schunk and Walters were on their dinner break when the cabbie hit the fire truck. The taxi driver, Mohammed Ali Khamis, 45, was not charged with a crime. State records show he has a clean driving record.
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