Firefighter who donated kidney gets help

Hooksett Editor — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:15:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

An Auburn volunteer firefighter said he’s grateful for the efforts of town officials and the utility company after his power came back on many days earlier than he’d originally expected.

Gregg Gelinas, 27, who is also a full-time firefighter for the city of Manchester, said he was recuperating from a Dec. 1 kidney donation that saved the life of his 7-year-old niece Hailey Gelinas when a falling limb snapped the power like to his Hooksett Road home on the evening of Dec. 11. Like nearly half a million other residents across the state, Gelinas was facing the prospect of an unknown time without power. As the severed line affected only his home, he said he originally thought he’d be in Public Service of New Hampshire’s lowest priority.

“I asked (a PSNH representative) for an estimated time on Monday (Dec. 15) ... and she said it could be weeks,” he said.

Gelinas said he was told by doctors it could take up to 12 weeks of down-time for him to recover from the surgery, but the outage raised some concern about where Gelinas, his wife, Ashley, and 14-month-old Megan would stay. With the support of his fellow firefighters, the Gelinas family temporarily moved into the department’s upper floors during the weekend of Dec. 13.

On Dec. 16, Megan seemed happy as she watched her regular Disney shows and Gregg and Ashley said they were grateful to be in a place where they had heat, electricity, a kitchen and laundry. But they admitted that their family routine had been interrupted somewhat because they were sheltering in one of the town’s busiest buildings.

“Last night we made Chinese pie and there was enough to feed a bunch of the guys,” said Gelinas. “It’s great (to be here) ... but at the same time, it is like a business, and at 7 a.m. the doors will open, people will start coming to work, and the phone will start ringing. It’s stressful.”

“And she (Megan) knows it’s not home,” said Ashley. “She’s not in her crib, and she doesn’t have her regular toys to play with.”

At that time, Gelinas said he still expected that he wouldn’t be back in his home until some time after Christmas, but less than 48 hours later, his fortunes had changed. When he arrived at his home on the morning of Dec. 18, he found the damaged line had been repaired.

“It’s a relief to be home,” he said. “I’m very thankful to all the people who helped out.”

Those familiar with the Gelinas family said they believed it was town assessing coordinator Dale Phillips who alerted PSNH officials to the family’s situation.

On Dec. 18, Phillips, who is the mother of Fire Chief Bruce Phillips, said she was motivated out of concern for Gelinas’ health.

“I just told them that after his surgery and everything, his immune system probably could be compromised very easily by an infection,” she said. “(PSNH) has been doing pretty well around town.”

By the end of the day on Dec. 19, most other Auburn residents also had their own electrical power back on.

Auburn News : firefighter

Firefighter who donated kidney gets help