NEW YORK — The eldest son of a fire department medic fatally run over by a stolen ambulance urged her colleagues and loved ones Saturday to be humbled rather than sad in her memory.
“Seeing everyone she affected, I know she didn’t die in vain,” Jose Montes, 24, the eldest of slain Fire Department emergency medical technician Yadira Arroyo’s five sons, told the family members and colleagues gathered at the Bronx stationhouse where the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced it was giving $100,000 to the sons.
“I know my mother wouldn’t have wanted people to be sad today. She would rather everyone — if you could take something from this, just let it humble you,” Montes said. “Just learn from this. Learn to hold your family closer every day, because life is short.”
Arroyo, 44, and another EMT were responding to a routine medical call Thursday when Jose Gonzalez, 25, hopped on the back of the ambulance, then darted into the driver’s seat and ran Arroyo down after a man on the street flagged the vehicle down to say Gonzalez had stolen his backpack, authorities said.
