by OREN YANIV
Just 22 days after cheating death when he fell 30 feet from a ladder bucket, a city firefighter left the hospital Monday and vowed to return to the job.
"I'm a very lucky man," Brian Smith, 43, said, sitting on a gurney that rolled him out of New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.
As dozens of his fellow Bravest hollered and cheered, the 13-year FDNY veteran pumped his fist and wiped away tears.
"I feel great," said Smith, whose head and neck are supported by a medical device called a halo. "I'm hoping, in a couple of weeks, to be back."
It will likely take longer than that. Smith faces an extended and grueling rehabilitation, but doctors predict a full recovery from the life-threatening injuries he suffered Nov. 18.
"The guy had a spectacular, miraculous recovery," said Capt. Steven Luisi, Smith's commanding officer.
Assigned to Ladder 44, Smith tumbled off the cherry picker while trying to break a third-floor window during a tenement fire in Highbridge, the Bronx.
Safety investigators are still probing the incident.
Trauma surgeon Soumi Eachempati said Smith suffered fractures to his spine, a cracked pelvis, punctured lungs and two broken ribs. He spent a week on a ventilator.
The doctor attributed the firefighter's speedy progress to his spirit and physical condition and the support of his colleagues, who also assisted his wife and two daughters.
"It's overwhelming, all the support I've been getting," an emotional Smith said before being taken to a Rockland County rehab facility.
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