A Camden County native is helping with recovery efforts
in Florida following the
Surfside Condo collapse that killed
dozens of people last month.
Dr. Ben Abo graduated from Cherry Hill High
School East and now serves as the medical director of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
"This is something that's going to be part of us, everybody that
responded, and those that were affected, forever,” says Dr. Abo.
The doctor says his shift begins at midnight and
consists of around-the-clock
mitigating everything from COVID-19, personal safety and people getting sick.
His crew and others working long hours to recover
the missing, but this isn’t the first time Dr. Abo has responded to a collapse.
The Camden County native was an EMT with Cherry Hill and Mount Laurel EMS. In
2001, he was called to help recover missing people during 9/11.
"I basically got up there about 24 hours
after and that was bringing emotional support as we did search and recovery and
try to maintain everybody's health there also, bringing a bunch of masks and
boards in water, gloves,” says Dr. Abo.
He tells News 12 the recovery mission in Surfside is almost complete after
almost three weeks.
Four friends of Dr. Abo died in the collapse, and he says his colleagues lost
family members.
While people think of the victims' families, the health expert asks
that you also think of those on the ground in Surfside, too.
"This is our job but it is personal, and this is a permanent mental toll, an emotional toll on us all,” says
Dr. Abo.
According to Surfside officials, 95 people have been recovered and 14 are still
missing.