A survivor of Thursday?s US Airways Flight 1549 crash now hospitalized in Weehawkin says the experience is a ?new beginning.?

Charlotte native Barry Leonard is one of 59 survivors brought to Palisades Medical Center after the plane crashed into the Hudson River. Leonard was sitting in row 1C when the plane went down. He was one of the first passengers to leave the aircraft for the icy water.

Leonard says he is grateful to be alive and thankful to the many heroes who helped save him, crediting everyone from the pilots, ferry workers, fire and rescue personnel to hospital staffers. Though terrifying, he says the crash has changed him for the better and inspired him to help others.

?Makes you change the way you think,? he says.

He and other survivors plan on staying in touch as they deal with the crash?s psychological effects.

"There's a lot of post traumatic stress disorder,? he says. ?We're going to work together to help each other through this."