Sully Sullenberger’s latest miracle - Rory Staunton’s hero lends name to fight for more stringent hospital checks

Sully Sullenberger and his wife Lorraine with Orlaith, Kathleen and Ciaran Staunton
last week in O’Neill’s. (Photo by Sean McPhail)

They say you should never meet your heroes in case you are disappointed, but in the case of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the opposite is true.

I had the great pleasure of meeting the man responsible for the “Miracle on the Hudson,” when he saved the lives of the crew and 155 passengers on a US Airways flight en route to North Carolina by executing a perfect landing on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

Earlier last week Sully, who has Swiss and Irish heritage, had appeared on Katie Couric’s talk show where he met 10 little babies born to passengers since that miracle day, and to recount the story of the incredible landing.

Sully’s bravery that day was one of the greatest feel good stories of its time, but his heroism does not end there.

Since that day he has resolved to continue his efforts to make air travel safer and also to ensure, based on pre-flight check lists, that hospital procedures, especially in emergency rooms, are greatly improved.

On January 15 Sully met with my family, my sister Orlaith and brother-in-law Ciaran Staunton, who lost their son Rory, a dedicated flier in the making who considered Sully his hero.

Rory died from sepsis last April after catastrophic medical mistakes were made in his care at NYU Langone Hospital in New York after he suffered a scrape in a basketball game at his school.

Rory’s battle for life was featured in The New York Times, and the coverage included his admiration and hero worship for Sully.

Sully read the article and contacted Ciaran and Orlaith, so a meeting was finally set up for last week.

It turned out to be a wonderful dinner at O’Neill’s, which the Stauntons own, in Midtown Manhattan as relatives and friends of Orlaith and Ciaran gathered. Sully, his charming wife Lorraine, and daughter Kelly also attended.

Sully sat down and read Rory’s term paper on him in its entirety, asked every question about Rory and his love of flying and what kind of child he was.

Sully was the polar opposite of so many self-obsessed “celebrities,” a title that does not fit easily on this former Air Force fighter pilot.

There was self–deprecating humor too, when discussing that fateful day and when he finally got off the plane after the most traumatic experience imaginable.

He called US Airways and introduced himself, and the official told him he’d have to call back as one of their planes had just gone down in the Hudson. “I am the pilot,” Sullenberger told him, followed by a stunned silence.

His wife at home was on a long call to a close relative and did not immediately pick up when Sully called, and when she did she was quietly annoyed. Why was he so anxious to speak to her?

“Turn on the TV,” he told her.

Sully unselfishly gives much of the credit to his co-pilot Jeff Skiles that day, who kept his cool and calmly told him his altitude, speed and likely landing trajectory as the water rushed up to meet them and alarms were going off all over the cockpit.

Sully believes that the extraordinary safety record of major US airlines (excluding commuter flights) since the last major airline crash back in 2001 is due in large part to improved communication procedures between pilots, and check lists that ensure flying is made as safe as possible.

He believes the same system should apply in hospitals all over the world, and that it would make a profound difference in the death rate for patients killed by medical errors.

My family’s loss is the living nightmare of the consequences of such errors. Blood tests that revealed Rory’s worsening condition were never even checked.

Having someone like Sully onboard is a tremendous boost to the chances that such a checklist system will son be implemented coast to coast.

Meeting Sully would have been a huge deal for Rory, and his hero would not have disappointed him. The wild blue yonder is where they were both most at home.

So fly straight Sully, and keep up the marvelous work. You made us all so proud to meet you.

Focus should be on depression not media in Irish Minister’s suicide -- Deep seated issue of depression and suicide needs full exploration

Shane McEntee RIP (Photo - AP)

We in the media business take our fair share of the blame for demonizing individuals and sometimes jumping to wrong conclusions.

But I think it is stretching it to say that media is responsible for the  suicide of a prominent politician as is being alleged in Ireland.

I knew Shane McEntee the Minister  of State for Agriculture who took his own life in tragic circumstances last week. I had met him on many occasions and he struck me as the prototype of a rural Irish politician deeply involved in his community and well liked and respected.

He was a man who had achieved an amazing amount in his too-short life and was clearly beloved as the massive 3,000 people at his funeral showed.

The reports in the media there say he was likely driven to suicide by the negative media coverage he received in recent months, as part of an increasingly unpopular government imposing more and more hardship on people.

I find it hard to believe that would have been the whole reason for his suicide however,
Anyone entering politics in Ireland knows it is a full contact blood sport where the real enemies, due to the electoral system, are far more likely to be in your own party than across the floor in the other parties.

Sure, there has been a coarsening in Irish life and the new media outlets including social media are relentless in their pursuit of individuals in attempts to bring them down.

But every politician I know either here or in Ireland factors in that issue and knows well that this week’s controversy is next week’s fish and chip wrapper and the carnival moves on.

They are able to separate the political from the personal and to understand that ,  irrespective of how intense political discussion and criticism becomes, it rarely has the power to impact to the horrific extent of suicide.

What I am saying is by definition, politicians have thick skins and are highly unlikely to be driven to suicide by headlines.

Long term depression is another matter altogether and it is clear all was not well with Shane McEntee for him to  have taken such a drastic course.

Whatever happened it is an unmitigated tragedy for him and his family. What hopefully it does do is  shine a light on depression and the causes of suicide in a country still remarkably reluctant to deal with an issue that has become  an urgent problem.

Perhaps that would be the best legacy of this tragic death that suicide and its causes become a major focus of the government he served so well and so proudly. That would be a fitting legacy for Shane McEntee if his death helped stop other suicides.

A witch hunt against Internet trolls on the other hand has no lasting value.

Irish government cuts to the disabled show they are badly out of touch -- Will they now tackle the unions and the welfare entitlements?

Group of disabled Irish people protest proposed government cuts

DUBLIN: I drove past Leinster House, the Irish parliament building in Dublin, last week and saw an extraordinary sight.

Protesting outside were scores of disabled people, many without arms and legs, because the government had stated they were cutting the budget for their helpers. The protestors were almost outnumbered by the media.

The airwaves were full of their plaintive complaints that their caregivers were being laid off because of budget cuts.

The images and interviews were horrible for the government and they quickly reversed the cuts. But it left a trail of damage behind.

The immediate question was what kind of government could do such a thing to the most vulnerable of all in their community?

They will argue differently of course, that they have no choice given the demand by European authorities that they slash their budgets.

Yet the few million or so in cuts that would sever help to the disabled hardly seem worth the human cost. The government seemed unable to comprehend how bad the optics from the cuts to the most vulnerable would be.

The fact is that the disabled looked like an easy target and the Irish government has yet to confront the elephants in the room when they talk about cutting.

The Croke Park agreement, which set benchmark increases for public union workers who mostly have government jobs, remains the most controversial deal that this Fine Gael/Labour government is abiding by.

It freezes massive amounts of money and sets them aside for public union workers pay increases and increased government benefits.

The deal was struck by the previous government during the Celtic Tiger and all seemed fine at the time as it allowed the government workers to share the wealth with the private sector, which was booming.

That day is long gone and private sector workers have had their benefits slashed and pensions decimated.

Yet the government has refused to touch the public union contracts with the government workers agreed under the Croke Park deal. The Labour Party is deeply entrenched with public unions, which makes it even more difficult to tackle them. But the pressure is mounting, especially as $3 billion dollars in further cuts have to be made.

Ireland’s very generous welfare allowances have also been left untouched. The Sunday Business Post this weekend reported that the IMF has told the Irish government must target those welfare deals such as extra money for every child you have.

Does the Irish government have the stomach to tangle with the public unions and the welfare entitlement programs?

Certainly, given the disastrous experience of how they handled the cuts to the most vulnerable in wheelchairs there is no guarantee they will handle it effectively.

If they do not they may face an election a lot sooner than they would wish.