Video After The Jump
Erinn Phelan excelled in academics at Swampscott High School and at Brown University, and weeks after graduating last summer, she left New England for a dream job in New York City, working for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new volunteerism initiative.
Phelan came home often to visit her parents and former teachers. She planned to return next weekend to watch her alma mater compete in the Harvard Model Congress, one of the many extracurricular activities she participated in as a Swampscott High student.
But at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, as Phelan and her college roommate of three years, Alma Guerrero, crossed a street in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn, they were hit by an oncoming car. The driver didn’t stop.
As the car rushed toward them, Phelan, 22, attempted to push Guerrero, 23, out of harm’s way. Guerrero, who is enrolled in medical school at Brown, suffered a broken collarbone. But Phelan sustained a severe head injury that has left her brain dead.
Guerrero’s father told the New York Daily News Phelan pushed his daughter out of the way “to save her.”
Police are still searching for the driver of the car, an Acura Legend. According to authorities, the vehicle was found several blocks from the scene, and police believe the suspect, a young woman, fled by subway. Police are concentrating their search on Cindy Jasmin, 33, of the Bronx, who is the registered owner of the car.
Bloomberg hired Phelan as one of six coordinators for NYC Civic Corps, an initiative that supplies nonprofit agencies with volunteers and support services. He visited both women at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn Sunday night.
Yesterday morning, he spoke about Phelan, telling reporters, “this young woman is a fighter. She’s got a big heart and though she’s only been living here for a few short months, she’s a New Yorker and everyone in this city is pulling for her to get through this.’’
Her parents, John and Mary Phelan, have been holding vigil at their daughter’s room since arriving in New York hours after the incident.
In Swampscott, her grandfather, John Phelan Sr., said her act of selflessness in trying to protect her friend was not surprising. “That’s how she has always been, looking out for others,’’ he said.
The elder Phelan said his son drove to New York early Sunday immediately after receiving a call from police about what happened. “This has left the whole family grief-stricken,’’ he said. “We’re just waiting and praying.’’
In the summer after her freshman year at Brown, Erinn Phelan worked as an intern with the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
News of Phelan’s condition also sent a wave of grief through Swampscott High School, where she graduated in 2005.
Brian Salzer, the high school principal, said Phelan was close to several teachers, who considered her “more than a student, a friend.’’ Phelan returned to the school often, and her former teachers followed her career.
“She was the one you knew was going to go places, because she had that great academic ability and was very service-minded,’’ he said.
Source : Boston Globe
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