New York’s Staten Island. A 2-year-old boy was struggling for his life after a tragic Graniteville fire two weeks ago. To commemorate another year of his precious life, the heroes who helped him recover staged a surprise party.
You would assume an international superstar had just dropped in when young Ian Pereles first walked into the boardroom of the Regina M. McGinn, M.D., Medical Education Center at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
With awe in his eyes, the small toddler waddled into the room, his right arm’s burns covered with bandages and hidden from the jubilant crowd.
It was a celebration, too.
Ian’s third birthday was celebrated on Friday with almost fifty individuals in attendance. Prior to his actual birthday on Monday, the small child was scheduled to be released from the hospital on Saturday.
There were dozens of FDNY personnel and hospital staff clapping, dinosaur-themed party decorations on tables, and all the pizza and sweets a child could want in front of the little survivor.
The cheers that broke out when Ian appeared, who occasionally thrilled the audience with a kind grin, were accompanied by a performance of the birthday song. The tenacious youngster was closely followed by his family, whose appreciation was immediately clear.
In sharp contrast to the shock she experienced when initially learning of the fire at her Ada Drive home on January 17, Ian’s mother, 32-year-old Julissa Torres, choked back tears as she reacted to the surprise for her son.
As the mother recalled, “I was stuck on the express bus coming home from work and I felt helpless when I found out.” It was a notification on her phone that told her.
After the incident, she eventually managed to call Ian’s father, Isaiah Pereles, 25, who was heartbroken and her fiancé.
She continued, “I didn’t realize how serious the situation was, and I felt like my world had ended in that instant.”
A father s fight
Pereles thanked all of the first responders in attendance by shaking their hands as soon as he led his future wife into the board room on Friday. His arms still showed the scars from the burns he had received.
Firefighters were the ones who pulled Ian from the scene on the day of the fire, but Pereles took matters into his own hands and did everything he could to protect his child.
Following the fire at 267 Ada Drive in Graniteville, this file photo from January 17, 2025, depicts the burned-out house. Luke Peteley/Staten Island AdvanceLuke Pete/Staten Island Advance
Ian was in the basement with Pereles’ second son, 5-year-old Greson Torres, and his nephew just before the fire, and Pereles was checking on him. At the moment, Ian was sleeping. Pereles went to talk to Angel, his stepfather, and then he heard alarms.
Pereles scurried, his initial thoughts going straight to the baby’s safety. As Pereles ran below, he found the basement where Ian was still there filled with unbearable heat and stifling smoke.
According to Pereles, attempting to save my son at that point was a death mission. It seemed as though something had taken control of my body, which is why I believe it to be God. I move over to the side of the house, grab the hose, open my windows, and begin spraying.
Even the good samaritan who had come to the scene to give assistance had to acknowledge that it would be pointless to try to brave the deadly heat without the right gear.
Pereles saw that Ian’s scream came from within at that same moment. With only a garden hose at his disposal, Pereles fought desperately to keep the fire under control as best he could. Thankfully, firefighters showed up on the scene, and with Pereles’ assistance, they hurried in and safely passed the infant through the basement window.
A special visit from a familiar face
Ian was rushed right away to FDNY Paramedics Daniel Fennell and Michael Strobel on the day of the incident. They promptly gave him hydroxocobalamin, a life-saving medication used to treat smoke inhalation, before he was taken to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
Ian was welcomed on his birthday by a number of amiable faces, including Strobel. Ian received a gift bag from the paramedic in person, which included a card, a plush animal, and a toy firetruck.
At Staten Island University Hospital, Ian Peleres plays with some of his talents. (Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)(Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker, who stood next to the men and women he was in charge of, wished Ian a very happy birthday and praised the efforts of everyone involved in his care on Friday.
Although we are incredibly committed, life-saving experts, we don’t often have results like this, so we are thrilled with the outcome here, Tucker said. This is precisely what our paramedics and firefighters would like to be involved in.
Birthday wishes from hospital heroes
After savoring his numerous presents for a while, Ian was given his favorite cake—chocolate with vanilla frosting. The hospital staff watched as their patient joyfully soaked up all of the toys and birthday greetings.
Since his first arrival to the clinic in serious condition two weeks ago, Ian has been in the care of these medical specialists.
Ian was initially treated in the critical care unit (ICU) for burn patients before being moved to the pediatric ICU. The youngster had first experienced carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, which is a deadly combination that can cause serious brain, airway, and lung dysfunction, according to Dr. Pamela Feuer, director of the pediatric critical care unit.
Ian was poisoned and inhaled, and the fire also burned his hands and face.
Feuer observed that despite Ian’s initial state, there was still optimism because the youngster consistently demonstrated that he had some life left in him.
Feuer said that because of his injuries, he needed numerous procedures done immediately, such as placing him on a breathing machine, tending to his burns, giving him intravenous fluids, etc.
Early on, Ian was heavily sedated in order to endure this treatment. Ian spent the rest of his treatment in the pediatric intensive care unit after it became apparent that the edema in his airways was subsiding.
Ian was able to be weaned off of sedative medication and removed from a breathing machine under the pediatric intensive care unit team’s supervision.
First of all, Feuer stated, “We work with the families and are really proud of our teams. It’s really shared care with our families.” We are proud of the team as a whole, and we are also quite emotional and happy with the result, which motivates us to come to work every day and perform at our highest level.
An outpouring of love and gratitude
The family has expressed thankfulness for their life and the affection they have received from the community and hospital staff, even though they have lost their house.
“I can honestly say that this is a miracle,” Pereles remarked. Since I believe in God, this is all God’s doing. That’s my perspective. And he s placed a wonderful team of doctors and nurses, placed us in a wonderful hospital, and the Fire Department as well, paramedics, I mean, we couldn t have had a greater team of people as a collective.
I didn t know whether I was going to see him again, you know, up and running, and now he s himself, added Pereles. Seeing him being himself is just the most important thing. That s what hits me, strikes me the most in my heart, is just, my son is here.
For the time being, the family is living in a hotel and is looking to eventually rent a new living space.
In recent weeks, thecommunity has rallied behind the Pereles familythrough a GoFundMe which, as of Friday afternoon, has raised $13,413 of its $50,000 goal.
To support the Pereles family in their time of need, visithttps://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-pereles-family-rebuild-after-devastating-house-fire.
To see my son in such a critical condition walking through those doors in the emergency room to this day, it feels like I have seen a miracle happen right in front of my eyes, the mother explained. To see your son just come out of such a critical condition and be himself again, that s the most amazing thing I have ever felt. And today, seeing everybody s love and support and the firefighters and EMS and everybody from the hospital that has helped Ian get to this point, it s an incredible feeling and I can not say thank you enough.
In seeing the community rally behind the family in the wake of this devastation, Pereles said:
We do want to just show our gratitude and say thank you for everyone who has contributed and sent their love and prayers and donations; It goes a long way. Right now, we re just trying to settle in wherever we live next, that s in the process. And I guess all I can say to the community is thank you and let s just pay it forward to another family that needs the help and love and support and prayers. I think if we can continue being a community the way that we have been with us, I mean, a lot of people will be impacted by that in a positive way.
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