- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Messages
- 16,969
Man who was killed while helping driver on Verrazano Bridge was retired FDNY hero
BY Ben Chapman and Tina Moore
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Sunday, September 11th 2011, 4:00 AM
Courtesy Conte Family
William Conte died on the Verrazano Bridge Friday after he tried to help a man who had been struck by a car.
The good samaritan who was killed trying to help a mortally injured driver on the Verrazano Bridge was a former city firefighter who left the FDNY after getting hurt during a rescue.
Staten Island contractor William Conte, 70, was with Engine 243 in Brooklyn and retired in 1970 after his injury, his son William Conte Jr., 48, said Saturday.
"He was trying to save a boy from a fire, and he injured his knee," his son said, surrounded by grieving family members at their home.
Conte was heading home from a job Friday when he spotted injured driver Buran Canka, 52, on the crossing.
Cops said a big box truck had hit the rear of Canka's stalled van while he was working on it.
The impact slammed the van into Canka, pushing him forward.
Conte had stopped in the center lane to assist Canka when the van rolled back and struck him, cops said.
Both men died of their injuries.
"He stopped to help like the good Samaritan he was, and that's when the accident happened," Conte Jr. said.
"If it's possible for anyone to be generous and helpful to a fault, that was my father."
Conte had run a successful contracting firm since retiring from the FDNY.
"It's a terrible loss, not just for our family but for the whole community," said Conte Jr., who flew in from Wyoming after learning of his father's death. "We're devastated."
Just 3 miles away, Canka's family was also grieving.
Memet Canka, 19, said his dad was coming back from a job in Brooklyn to pick up building materials when his van broke down on the span.
"He had been having problems with his van, and it broke down," Memet Canka said.
"He got out to see what was wrong, and then the truck hit his van."
His father, an Albanian immigrant, moved to Staten Island in 1994 seeking a better life, the son said.
"My father was a hardworking man," he said.
Like Conte, Canka also was a contractor who owned his own business and had three children.
"We know the other man who was killed was trying to help him," Memet Canka said. "We can't believe this happened."
Canka's brother-in-law, Osman Mistari, a sheet-metal worker from Staten Island, called what happened a tragic accident.
"We are all very upset," he said.
"Tell the other family we're sorry for what happened."
tmoore@nydailynews.com
Share82
.
Email
Print
.
BY Ben Chapman and Tina Moore
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Sunday, September 11th 2011, 4:00 AM
Courtesy Conte Family
William Conte died on the Verrazano Bridge Friday after he tried to help a man who had been struck by a car.
The good samaritan who was killed trying to help a mortally injured driver on the Verrazano Bridge was a former city firefighter who left the FDNY after getting hurt during a rescue.
Staten Island contractor William Conte, 70, was with Engine 243 in Brooklyn and retired in 1970 after his injury, his son William Conte Jr., 48, said Saturday.
"He was trying to save a boy from a fire, and he injured his knee," his son said, surrounded by grieving family members at their home.
Conte was heading home from a job Friday when he spotted injured driver Buran Canka, 52, on the crossing.
Cops said a big box truck had hit the rear of Canka's stalled van while he was working on it.
The impact slammed the van into Canka, pushing him forward.
Conte had stopped in the center lane to assist Canka when the van rolled back and struck him, cops said.
Both men died of their injuries.
"He stopped to help like the good Samaritan he was, and that's when the accident happened," Conte Jr. said.
"If it's possible for anyone to be generous and helpful to a fault, that was my father."
Conte had run a successful contracting firm since retiring from the FDNY.
"It's a terrible loss, not just for our family but for the whole community," said Conte Jr., who flew in from Wyoming after learning of his father's death. "We're devastated."
Just 3 miles away, Canka's family was also grieving.
Memet Canka, 19, said his dad was coming back from a job in Brooklyn to pick up building materials when his van broke down on the span.
"He had been having problems with his van, and it broke down," Memet Canka said.
"He got out to see what was wrong, and then the truck hit his van."
His father, an Albanian immigrant, moved to Staten Island in 1994 seeking a better life, the son said.
"My father was a hardworking man," he said.
Like Conte, Canka also was a contractor who owned his own business and had three children.
"We know the other man who was killed was trying to help him," Memet Canka said. "We can't believe this happened."
Canka's brother-in-law, Osman Mistari, a sheet-metal worker from Staten Island, called what happened a tragic accident.
"We are all very upset," he said.
"Tell the other family we're sorry for what happened."
tmoore@nydailynews.com
Share82
.
.