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Fair Man in critical condition after Sunrise Highway crash
This story was updated on Jan. 19 at 10 p.m.
A man is in critical condition and two women suffered minor injuries after a three-car crash early Tuesday morning shut down a section of Sunrise Highway near Valley Stream’s border with Rosedale, said Nassau County police.
The man, 36, was travelling west on Sunrise Highway in a 2003 Nissan Altima when he lost control of his vehicle, crossed a grass median and struck a 2008 Hyundai Elantra heading east, driven by a 55-year-old woman, police said. The collision caused the Hyundai Elantra to strike a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder also travelling east by another 55-year-old woman. Both women were taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Sean Creeden, 51, a Lynbrook resident and taxi driver for Village Car Service, was on his way home from John F. Kennedy Airport when he saw the crash and attended to the man whose car crossed over the median.
“I knew something was very wrong because he wasn’t responding to any verbal stimuli,” he said.
Creeden is trained in CPR and worked as a respiratory therapist for more than 27 years. He now drives for the taxi service part-time. He called 911 and told the operator that the man was breathing lightly and had a faint pulse.
According to Creeden, the man’s pulse stopped, at which point he began performing CPR until paramedics arrived. The women involved in the crash got out of their cars and seemed OK, he said, but frustrated drivers who didn’t see the crash were honking at the traffic buildup.
“Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath when there’s traffic and put a lid on it,” he said.
Police shut down the eastbound lanes from Hook Creek Road in Rosedale to Green Acres Road in Valley Stream for more than four hours. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
“If I did something to help him, I’m certainly happy to do so,” Creeden said. “My prayers and wishes go out to everybody involved in this accident.”
