1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind Podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 2: A nineteen twenty nine firefighters heroic rescue still connects to 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 2: families generations later, Written by Julie Provost, read by July Provost. 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 2: Almost one hundred years ago, a firefighter named Wesley A. Williams, 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 2: the first black officer in the New York City Fire Department, 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 2: rescued people from a tenement building buyer. One of the 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 2: families Wesley saved was Rachel Confino, an immigrant from Turkey, 12 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 2: and her three children. Now all these years later, Wesley 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: and Rachel's grandchildren meet for the first time in a 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 2: special reunion. It was June twentieth, nineteen twenty nine, when 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 2: a fire broke out at ninety one Allen Street on 16 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 2: the Lower East Side of New York City. Wesley was 17 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 2: one of the first firefighters on the scene. After the rescue, 18 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 2: he had to be revived after he collapsed from smoke inhalation. 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 2: It was through ancestry dot Com that the two families 20 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 2: found one another all these years later. Raschell Moreca, Kathie 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 2: Guina Tubans, and Carmine Guina, the grandchildren of Rachel, met 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 2: Charles Williams, the grandson of Wesley, for the first time 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 2: in New York City, not too far from the side 24 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 2: of the fire. Wesley saved around twenty people that harrowing day, 25 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: including Rachel and her three young children, I'man six, Becky four, 26 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 2: and Sam two. And that reunion was nothing but special. 27 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 2: But how did this reunion come about after so many years? 28 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 2: Through ancestry dot Com, they found historical wreckers that linked 29 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 2: the two families. A genealogist with Ancestry, Nika Swellsmith, found 30 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 2: the families to very old newspapers. The beauty of historical 31 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: ruckers is that sometimes the folks who are documented in 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 2: them are related by blood, and then sometimes they're related 33 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 2: by experience, she says. Kathy, sixty, one of Rachel's grandchildren, 34 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 2: has provided her DNA to ancestry in order to find 35 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 2: other members of her extended family, but was connected with 36 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 2: Charles and now considers him a new member of the family. 37 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: Carmine seventy seven shares that they actually don't know too 38 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: much about their grandmother, and he was the only one 39 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 2: of the grandchildren who knew her before she passed away. 40 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 2: Raschelle sixty three shares that hearing the story of the 41 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 2: rescue just blew us away. Rachel, who immigrated to the 42 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,679 Speaker 2: US from Turkey in nineteen twenty had four grandchildren and 43 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 2: nine great grandchildren, all people who might not even be 44 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 2: here if it wasn't for Wesley's brave actions that day 45 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 2: back in nineteen twenty nine. People that came here, they struggled, 46 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 2: and they were just trying to get better lives. Kathy says, 47 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 2: somebody literally saved their lives and saved our whole generation 48 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 2: at bar kids and our grandkids. I always held him 49 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: in a high state, Charles says his grandfather. Even though 50 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 2: I didn't go into the fire service, I still felt 51 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 2: that what he had done during his lifetime was so impressive. 52 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 2: Wesley went on to sound the fire Department's Volcan Society, 53 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 2: a black fraternal organization, in nineteen forty. As a result 54 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 2: of just doing that, a lot of firefighters held him 55 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 2: in high regard as well, and did as he did. 56 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,839 Speaker 2: Charles said he was very instrumental in improving other young 57 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 2: firefighters coming up behind him, and they likewise started emulating him. 58 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,959 Speaker 2: To commemorate the firefighter, Ancestry commissioned a mural near where 59 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: he once served Engine fifty five. The four family members 60 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 2: were able to take a photo in front of the 61 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 2: murle It's beautiful. I hope it stays out for a 62 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 2: long time. Forever shares Carmine. Their reunion kicked off Ancestries 63 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 2: the Story US to celebrate America turning two hundred and 64 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 2: fifty years old. This series will highlight two hundred and 65 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 2: fifty stories of families who help ship America groand children 66 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 2: are the crown of the aged, and the glory of 67 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 2: children is their fathers. Proverbs seventeen to six. Eighteen year 68 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 2: old climber survives at two hundred and sixty foot fall 69 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 2: down a mountain against all odds, written by head the Rigaman, 70 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 2: read by Dully Provost. An eighteen year old climber survives 71 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 2: at time two hundred and sixty foot fall down a mountain, 72 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: against all odds. The mountain was quiet that morning, the 73 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: kind of still that feels holly and endless. All at once. 74 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 2: Mount Walsh in Queensland, Australia rose against the sky like 75 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 2: a giant breathing thing, unaware that Jake McCollum was climbing 76 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 2: towards its peak alone. He was young, capable, and assumed 77 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 2: he was invincible, as all teenagers do. But in a 78 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 2: single heartbeat, the ground slipped out from beneath him and 79 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 2: the world turned upside down. Jake fell roughly two hundred 80 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 2: and sixty two feet tumbling, crashing through the air and 81 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 2: branches until a tree finally broke his fall and he 82 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 2: landed hard on his back and that stud silence after impact. 83 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 2: Pain flooded his body. His spine was fractured, ribs broken, 84 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: and turn of bleeding was setting in. His head was injured. 85 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 2: The wind was knocked out of me, and I remember 86 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 2: thinking it was probably all over for me, Jake recalled, 87 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 2: I don't really think it was survivable. It is chilling 88 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 2: thing to imagine lying face down beneath a thick canopy 89 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 2: of leaves, dressed in black, so that even the sky 90 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 2: had trouble seeing you, feeling how thin life suddenly is. 91 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 2: But God had tacked help into his backpack before the 92 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 2: fall ever happened. Jake crawled through the brush towards his 93 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 2: personal locator beacon, a small device that sent a desessed 94 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 2: jignal crossed miles of rock and sky to Cannaberra. That 95 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 2: signal reached his parents, Rachel and her husband, who called 96 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 2: and called until a broken phone and fallen bluetooth headphones 97 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 2: finally carried Rachel's voice to her son. I heard really, 98 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 2: really faintly, Mom. I hurt really bad, Rachel later said, 99 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 2: through tears, I think my heart sank, my knees went. 100 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 2: It probably the worst news you could ever hear. For 101 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 2: more than five hours, she stayed with Jake on the line, praying, 102 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 2: speaking calmly, coordinating with the Queensland Police. A mother's love 103 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 2: becoming a lifeline that refused to let go. I don't 104 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 2: know how many times he said, I think I'm going 105 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 2: to die, she remembered, Hi above. Rescue crews searched a 106 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 2: mountain side the scene, determined to hide him life White 107 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 2: Officer Shane White said the beacon kept bouncing off the 108 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 2: rock face, and Jake was well hidden under a thick 109 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 2: canopy of foliage. The helicopter even passed over him once, 110 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 2: and Jake, still on the phone, cried out, it's gone 111 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 2: past me. Yet They circled back, hovered low and finally 112 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 2: saw his legs through the grain hope descended from the sky. 113 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 2: It took nearly an hour to stabilize him before he 114 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 2: was airlifted to hospital, where he would spend days healing 115 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 2: from injuries that could easily have been fatal. Looking back, 116 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 2: Rachel knows how close they came to a different ending. 117 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 2: His bluetooth headphones helped save my son, she said. Without them, 118 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 2: it could have taken days to locate him. And then, 119 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 2: with the tenderness that every parent understands, she added, we're 120 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 2: one of the lucky ones. We get to hug our 121 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 2: kid at night, so we're very thankful. There is something 122 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 2: sacred in the story in a woman's steady voice carried 123 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 2: through broken technology, his strangers searching tireusly from the sky, 124 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 2: and a young man who lived when he fully believed 125 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 2: he would not. Jake walked into the mountain alone, but 126 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 2: he was never truly by himself. Sometimes rescue comes through 127 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 2: beacons and helicopters. Sometimes it comes through a trembling mother 128 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 2: on the other end of a line, And sometimes it 129 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 2: comes through God, who hears even our faintest cry from 130 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 2: my distress. I call upon the Lord. The Lord answered 131 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 2: me and set me in a broad place, Psalm one 132 00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 2: hundred and eighteen five. 133 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 134 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 135 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 136 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 137 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 138 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd 139 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us 140 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: a review. 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