Fil-Am in New York rescued from suicide attempt

A New York police detective managed to rescue a 32-year-old Filipino-American flight attendant and Honolulu Rotary Club leader from taking her own life in Queens, New York. Averie Kenery, employed by Delta Air Lines, called her mother and husband to apologize and say goodbye just before 5 p.m. July 17, according to a report on the Filipino Reporter. She also asked them to tell her two children how much she loved them before losing consciousness, the report said. The rescue began after Kenery’s mother Beth Walz had used another phone to call 911 almost immediately after Kenery’s call. But she got no help because she could only specify an intersection in Kew Gardens, not an exact address which an operator demanded to locate Kerry. Walz and other family members called up different police stations around the area until Walz reached Detective Charles LoPresti of the 103rd Precinct Detective Squad. “For some reason, he entertained my call. Here we are, thousands and thousands of miles away, but he listened to us!" Walz, 50, told the New York Daily News, which broke the news. The area turned out to be under the jurisdiction of the next precinct, but this did not stop LoPresti and his squad from rushing there. “We just jumped in the car and put our lights and sirens on and went to the corner," said LoPresti, a 22-year NYPD veteran. Upon arriving, they began randomly knocking on the doors and ringing doorbells. When LoPresti saw flight attendants enter into one building, he went in and began pounding on doors. Luckily, Kenery’s mother, who had stayed on the line with her daughter’s phone, heard LoPresti call Kenery’s name. “She’s there! We hear you!" she said, prompting the detectives to break down the door on the third-floor apartment unit. The detectives found Kenery’s limp body wedged between a bed and a wall, and covered by a sheet. “She went into respiratory arrest and she wasn’t breathing, but she did have a pulse. The paramedics had to resuscitate her," LoPresti recalled. Kenery was rushed to Jamaica Hospital and she woke from a coma three days later. LoPresti said he visited Kenery a few days ago and she thanked him for saving her life. Grateful family Meanwhile, Kenery’s grateful family has nothing but praises for the “amazing" LoPresti and his squad members. “They will forever be angels to us," Walz said. LoPresti said he was just doing what he hopes another cop would do for his family. “We get a lot of phone calls, you know, something not as serious as the person makes it out, but I just had a very strange feeling when I got that call," LoPresti told WCBS 880 radio. LoPresti is scheduled to be honored by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall in September for his heroism, officials said. Friends shocked In Honolulu, meanwhile, Kenery’s friends and colleagues expressed shock upon learning the news of her suicide try. “She’s a wonderful, wonderful lady and friend," says one businessman who asked his name be withheld. “She’s very organized and a good leader." “We had no idea she’s going through tough times," the same friend added. Kenery is the current president of the Rotary Club of Honolulu Pau Hana and a member of the Hawaii Actors Network. She previously worked as finance and human resource manager at Pipeline Micro Inc., public relations officer at Hawaii Super Ferry and Aloha Air Lines, and training coordinator at Southeast Airlines. — JE, GMA News