Carlos Lillo
Carlos Lillo, EMT-P
NYFD
age 37
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Now she knows for certain that Carlos Lillo would give his life for her. Because he did.
Ginny Quinn, of Bayside, was a single mom when she met the man who would complete her family.
Now, she is trying to tell their son that his father, Ricardo Quinn, died trying to save people he never knew.
The city's corps of Fire Department emergency medical technicians lost two members in the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Lillo and Quinn are the women they left behind.
On duty in Astoria, Carlos Lillo, 37, was mobilized to One World Trade Center, where Cicilia worked for the Port Authority on the 64th floor. When the couple could not reach each other by cell phone, Carlos went into the building to find her.
"I was trying to tell him that I got out and not to worry about me," said Lillo, 35. "I know he was my hero, because I was in there and he was trying to save me."
She met Carlos in 1982, when they were students at Long Island City High School. He was in a relationship and they never dated.
They met again at a New Year's Eve party 15 years later, and by that June decided to move in together. He proposed at their housewarming party. They married last year in Jamaica.
Ricardo Quinn, 40, was off duty when terrorists struck, but rushed to the burning Twin Towers to join the rescue effort. "I knew he was there, that's Ricardo," Ginny Quinn said. "I'm so proud of him, that he went there to help people. He just didn't make it out."
Quinn, 48, met her husband at Jones Beach, where each had come with a son from a prior marriage.
They married and nine years ago had a son, Kevin.
Wednesday, she told him.
"He looked at me. I'll never forget the expression on his face," Quinn said. "He said, 'Do you mean Daddy's dead?' "
PARAMEDIC CARLOS LILLO MOURNED ONE YEAR AFTER WTC
9.15.02
Paramedic Carlos Lillo, one of only two New York city EMS paramedics to die in last year's World Trade Center attacks, was remembered yesterday as a wonderful husband by his wife, who miraculously survived the attack.
"He was my life. He was my everything," Cecelia Lillo said during funeral services.
Carlos, 37, rushed to the Twin Towers as soon as the first plane struck.
He was saving lives in the north tower when it collapsed. His wife, an administrator for the Port Authority, managed to escape from the 64th floor of the south tower, despite some injuries.
His brother Cesar said Carlos, who loved his wife more than anything, must have been frantic as he tried to help victims.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani were among the hundreds of mourners who paid their respects at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Deer Park, L.I.
Giuliani greeted family members with kisses and kind words.
At least 200 people, including EMTs, paramedics, firefighters and family members, also attended the funeral.
Yesterday's service wasn't the first for Carlos. In May, emergency medical technicians and paramedics from as far away as Canada and Boston came to lower Manhattan to honor him and the other FDNY paramedic to die in the terror attack, Ricardo Quinn.
A “Carlos Lillo Memorial Paramedic Scholarship Fund” Golf Tournament is held each year.
Community Park dedicated in honor of Carlos Lillo-
In October of 2004 the Community Board 1 approved the construction of a new community park to be dedicated in honor of Carlos Lillo, an Astoria emergency medical technician who was killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Assembyman Michael Gianaris secured more than $150,000 in state funds to acquire and develop the park at 76th Street and 21st Avenue. The property is currently used as a storage site for a construction company.
The plan to build Carlos Lillo Park must still get approval from Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and the Department of City Planning. The Parks Department must also negotiate with the property owner in order to acquire the land.
The plan to build a park in honor of Lillo has been two years in the making, according to Gianaris. The proposal has received the support of both local civic leaders and business owners in the neighborhood.
“Honoring the life of Carlos Lillo with this new park is a very fitting tribute,” Gianaris said. “He lived in this neighborhood and worked saving lives as a paramedic and gave his life for all New Yorkers.”
Gianaris called the storage site an “eyesore” for the community that has been there since he was growing up in Astoria. In fact, the PTA president for PS 2l, which is located across the street, has sent a letter supporting the park plan.
Lillo, 37, had worked for 16 years as a member of the FDNY-EMS Battalion 49 out of Mount Sinai Hospital in Astoria. He had reportedly entered the South Tower five minutes before it collapsed on September 11th, and his remains were found in March 2002.
He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City with his mother and siblings when he was 14 years old. He got his start in the field as a 17-year-old volunteer for the radiology department at the former Astoria Hospital, before transferring to that hospital’s ambulance division.
At the time of his death, Lillo was living in Babylon, Long Island with his wife, Cecilia. She was in attendance at the CB 1 meeting on Tuesday night, but was too emotional when asked to say a few words.
“It’s an honor and a tribute to my husband and I know he would be very proud,” Lillo said afterward. “He loved the outdoors and he loved children. This means a lot to me and to his family and the generations to come who will use it.”
She believes the tribute to Lillo also serves as recognition of the sacrifices that EMTs make on the job.
“He always said that thir work was as risky as the police and firemen and a lot of time they don’t get the recognition,” Lillo said.
CB 1 District Manager George Delis said the only questions about the park from the board’s standpoint was about its design.
“I knew Carlos Lillo many years ago and he was a lovely guy, very nice,” Delis said. “I’m glad this is getting done.”
This is the second tribute that Lillo’s old neighborhood has paid him. Last year, 30th Road, at the corner of Crescent Street, was renamed Carlos Lillo Way.