The emotional family of the surgeon who saved Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. after a near-fatal stabbing a half-century ago was flooded with
bone-chilling memories after hearing the woman behind the failed assassination attempt had died.
“The flashbacks of everything — it brings back basically my whole
life,” said Ron Naclerio, whose father, Dr. Emil Naclerio, performed the
life-saving operation in 1958 that kept the civil rights leader alive.
“Anytime I hear about the crazy lady, I associate what she tried to do
to Martin, and it goes straight to my father’s great legacy,” he added.
Izola Ware Curry, then 42, plunged a seven-inch letter opener into
King’s chest during a Harlem book signing after asking a store clerk,
“Is this Martin Luther King?”
The attack left King a sneeze away from death since the tip of the weapon rested on his aorta, the elder Naclerio previously told the Daily News.
The renowned thoracic surgeon, who died from congestive heart failure
in 1985, was praised by King for his quick-thinking skills after the
dicey, nearly three-hour operation, according to a thank-you letter the
icon sent after recovering.
King also referred to the stabbing during a speech he gave the day before he died in 1968.
“Look at the great things Dr. King did,” said Ron Naclerio, 57, of
Queens. “If something went wrong that day, none of that would have ever
happened.”
Curry, 98, died on March 7 at the Queens nursing home where she lived
after nearly 14 years at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally
Insane.
“It’s a shame what she did,” said Emil Naclerio’s wife, Gloria. “I still get chills down my spine when I think of it.”
Ron Naclerio, who was only a baby when his father made history, said he
gets “emotional” when he hears anything related to King.
“I think of my dad. I love him, I miss him,” the proud son said. “It brings back memories.”
No comments:
Post a Comment