Assistant Principal Rescues Man with Same Title After Car Wreck: 'Definition of Good Samaritan'

Amy FurrApril 10, 2022

A woman named Fiordaliza Marte, who is a Brooklyn assistant principal (AP), is being praised for rescuing someone with the same title as hers.

Marte works at PS 23 in Bedford-Stuyvesant and came upon a scene in early December where she helped a man who was unconscious, the New York Post reported Saturday.

“He was Melvin Martinez, 53, a beloved assistant principal at PS 257 in Williamsburg and baseball coach at the Grand Street Campus High School who won the first-ever honorary ESPY award for keeping his team motivated to practice and study during the pandemic,” the article said.

Video footage from 2020 showed Martinez delivering a fifth grade graduation speech:

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Prior to the incident, Marte dropped off a coworker but accidentally turned toward work, so she took an unfamiliar route.

When she came upon a car wreck and two distraught teenagers, Marte exited her vehicle, but the moment she saw the driver, it appeared he had died.

The young people, who were later identified as the driver’s sons, said he was not responding so Marte immediately took action and was told he was Martinez, whom she recognized as another AP.

“At that point, I just got in the car. I forgot I was on the phone with 911. I put the phone down and started doing chest compressions and CPR,” she recalled.

‘Meant to be there’: Assistant principal revives another assistant principal after car crash https://t.co/1fFyWNEoIi pic.twitter.com/IAhzZv3jN5

— New York Post (@nypost) April 9, 2022

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was described as a lifesaving procedure done when a person’s heart ceases beating.

“Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest,” the American Heart Association’s website read.

Marte also performed mouth to mouth and Martinez began to revive. Later, emergency crews arrived to help Martinez and took him to the hospital.

Martinez has since returned to work and voiced his thanks, commenting, “I would like to thank God for placing Assistant Principal Marte at the scene of our car accident. She performed CPR on me until EMS arrived. She saved my life. She is my family’s guardian angel.”

“She is the true definition of a good samaritan. I am forever grateful for what she did for me and my family. Thank you Ms. Marte,” he concluded.