Donnie Wahlberg and his “Blue Bloods” co-star Amy Carlson are among the actors lending their star power to the FDNY emergency medical technician in a viral campaign.
The NYPD drama duo posed with a notecard that read, “For Yari. #FDNYEMS.”
Arroyo’s old colleague at the FDNY’s Battalion 26, Vincent Caiola, started the social media trend with the help of his entertainer friends.
Slain EMT’s sons thank Daily News readers for $120G in donations
After missing Arroyo’s funeral, he recruited Bronx native and “Hook” lost boy James Madio to pose alongside former child actor Dante Basco in Kansas City.
“I would always run into her at Lincoln hospital,” said Caiola, a former paramedic turned Jetblue flight attendant.
He left the FDNY in 2010 but logged eight months working alongside Arroyo.
Arroyo, a 44-year-old mother of five, was killed while pulling an extra shift on March 16 when a crazed man yanked her from her ambulance and ran her over.
“It really upset me to miss the funeral,” he said, adding that he was among dozens of mourners who left flowers at Arroyo’s fire station in the Bronx.
Even the cast of Broadway’s “Wicked” and Domenick Lombardozzi from “The Wire” have joined Caiola’s social media campaign.
“Everyone should know how hard these men and women work in the city,” Caiola told the Daily News. “I know that FDNY EMS does not get the credit and the type of credit and the type of pay they deserve.”
The message of solidarity comes as first responders highlight the thankless job’s pay disparity and stress that equates to what a police officer or firefighter experiences. EMT workers, such as Arroyo, are forced to pick up side jobs and extra shifts to make ends meet.
Arroyo’s base salary was $48,153, records show.
Vincent Variale, the president of the Uniformed EMS Officers union, began aggregating Caiola’s celebrity snaps on Saturday afternoon with a message of his own — calling on Mayor de Blasio to advocate for the FDNY EMS.
“Hey Mayor de Blasio where is your support,” Variale wrote. “Honor EMT Yadira Arroyo and acknowledge EMS as a Uniformed Emergency Service.”
No comments yet.