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Rescued window washer lauds firefighters

E-mail|Link|Comments () August 6, 2009 07:05 PM

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Staff

Kyle Redmond, one of the two window washers who were rescued Wednesday from their dangling scaffold 37 floors above the Financial District, said today that the accident had left him an "emotional wreck."

Kyle Redmond (WCVB-TV Photo)

"That was an "unbelievable experience. I'm still shaking," he told reporters in an interview in his driveway at his home in Walpole.

"There was not a prettier sight to me in the world than when that axe came through the window. I just can't get over it. It was an amazing rescue," said Redmond, who said he had been washing windows for 28 years.

Redmond and Julio Ortiz were at the peak of a skyscraper when their platform abruptly pitched down. They banged the windows of the building for help and firefighters smashed through the windows to retrieve them.

Redmond thanked Boston firefighters, saying, "They are an unbelievable bunch. Unbelievable. … I have nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for those guys. They're amazing."

Redmond said he was cooperating with OSHA investigators looking into the incident.

Regarding whether or not he’ll return to work, he said, "I don't know that. I can't answer that. I'm not going over there tomorrow, I'll tell you that much."

He was on the lower end of the scaffolding and was held onto by a safety line, Redmond said.

Redmond expressed anger about the incident, but wouldn't elaborate on why.