There were Shamrocks of Hope

Many friends, family members, Lynbrook firefighters and fellow correction officers and co-workers from the sheriff’s office where Lenny Llewellyn, 43, is employed came out to support him during a fundraiser that was held in his honor at Connolly’s Station in Malverne on Sun., Oct. 24.

As reported in the Herald last month, Llewellyn, an ex-captain with Lynbrook Truck Company, was seriously injured in a pool diving accident in August of this year, sustaining nearly fatal neck and spinal cord damages. Though doctors were able to perform two massive surgeries to begin repairing his shattered and fractured vertebrae, Llewellyn is partly paralyzed from the chest down and is wheelchair dependent — but he’s beginning to slowly show signs of improvement.

“He’s a great guy,” said Warren Hutchinson, Llewellyn’s brother-in-law, who spearheaded the fundraiser. “The doctors said he has a good chance of walking again in about a year or so, but it will be a long road.”

Llewellyn, who grew up in Lynbrook and currently lives in Malverne with his wife, Kristine and 7-year-old daughter, was a Nassau County corrections officer for 20 years and an ex-captain of the Lynbrook Fire Department.

He is undergoing extensive physical therapy at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. He still is suffering from complications. His home needs renovations for his return, said Hutchinson.

Anyone interested in helping Llewellyn and his family can contact Warren Hutchinson at WHSQUIRE@gmail.com or mail a donation to Hutchinson at 39 Neiman Avenue, Lynbrook, NY, 11563. He can also be contact at (516) 551-7058.