By Harry Parker, Leonard Greene
New York Daily News
NEW YORK 鈥� Relieved and crowded outside a Manhattan hospital to cheer on a fellow medic being released a week after she was by a patient in her ambulance.
A smiling Julia Taylor Fatum, 25, left Mount Sinai West hospital in Midtown 鈥� the same hospital she was attacked outside of 鈥� in a wheelchair holding a cane around 11 a.m.
She has undergone multiple surgeries since she was stabbed in the chest, leg and arm July 19 by a deranged patient as her ambulance approached the emergency room.
Colleagues cheered the spunky survivor but her release did little to quell their fury over the rise of assaults against first responders, many of whom risked their own lives fighting for sick New Yorkers at the height of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
鈥淚鈥檓 angry and upset that something like this happened to one of my sisters,鈥� said Dario Martinez, Fatum鈥檚 work partner. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy that she鈥檚 good and that she鈥檚 going home to recover. Everybody is here to support her. We are all EMS workers and we all treat each other as sisters and brothers. We are all a big family.鈥�
Martinez was not with Fatum when she was rendering aid to Rudy Garcia, who cursed and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife, according to cops.
But Martinez said he has suffered his own share of abuse on the job.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this for 26 years and it鈥檚 just been getting worse and worse,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e out there to help people out and this is the way that we get repaid. People should be aware. We鈥檙e out there to try to save lives, be there to help people in their most dire need. In turn, we get stabbed, assaulted, punched, spit at. It鈥檚 been horrible.鈥�
Garcia was taken into custody after the attack and brought to Mount Sinai West for observation.
Cops later charged him with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and obstructing governmental administration.
Fatum, who is from upstate Boiceville in the Catskills, was so shaken by the attack that she said , her mother, Cara Fatum, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
鈥淚t was something that no parents wants,鈥� Cara Fatum, 43, said Wednesday outside the hospital. 鈥淚t was terrifying because you really don鈥檛 think that it鈥檚 ever going to happen to you. We鈥檙e about two and a half hours away so we flew down here. It鈥檚 just been a whirlwind.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 tough and she takes on the world,鈥� the mom added. 鈥淯s, however, we鈥檙e from a small town in upstate New York and when she chose to come here it was definitely a worry because New York City is so far away from us. But she took on the world.鈥�
The victim鈥檚 parents said they were moved by the support their daughter has received.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been wonderful,鈥� Fatum鈥檚 father, Charles Fatum, said. 鈥淎bsolutely wonderful. Of course we worry, but she doesn鈥檛. We have to support her. It鈥檚 just senseless. No other way to say it.鈥�
Fatum鈥檚 mother said the attack was a wake-up call.
鈥淚鈥檓 overwhelmed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe there are so many people here that can see the value in her, and I hope that this makes a difference. Julia would do it all over again. If this makes a difference in the safety of her fellow EMTs, I know that she would do it all over again.鈥�
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