Richard Allen Pearlman, a volunteer with the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, was running an errand at 1 Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan when he heard an all-hands call to the World Trade Center, where a plane had struck one of the towers. He teamed up with police nearby, who took him in a cruiser to Ground Zero, where he was seen helping medical personnel and even carrying people out of the burning building.
On Monday September 17, 2001, NewsWeek published a photo that showed Richard wheeling a bloody victim in a stairchair.
The Newsweek magazine photo showed the 18-year-old from Howard Beach wheeling a bloody victim away from the South Tower — one of the last photos of him before his death. The South Tower was hit minutes after a jet flew into the North Tower. He then ran back into the South Tower to help before it collapsed on top of him.
"I'm going to be a famous person one day, Mom. I'm going to help save the world. You'll see." said Richard to his mother, Dori Pearlman.
