A 51-year-old man from Western Pa. and a 26-year-old former high school football standout from the Philadelphia area remain in the hospital after the New Year’s Day truck attack that left 14 people dead.
Two Pennsylvania men remain hospitalized after being injured when the driver of a white pickup truck sped down a packed Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter around 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.
The FBI says the New Orleans truck attacker acted alone in an “act of terrorism.” The driver had posted videos on social media hours before the carnage early Wednesday, saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill, President Joe Biden said.
The FBI identified the driver as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.
Here’s what we know about the Pennsylvanians who were injured in the attack:
Jeremi Sensky
Jeremi Sensky, 51, had driven with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and two friends from their home in Canonsburg to New Orleans, which they had long talked about visiting.
Heaven Sensky-Kirsch said her father endured 10 hours of surgery for injuries that included two broken legs. He was taken off a ventilator Thursday.
Sensky was ejected from the wheelchair he was using and had bruises to his face and head, Sensky-Kirsch said in a phone interview from a hospital intensive care unit.
“He’s talking right now,” Sensky-Kirsch said late Thursday morning.
Sensky, 51, who works in the family’s tree service business, had driven from his home in Canonsburg to New Orleans to celebrate the holiday.
Before the attack, Sensky and two friends had been having pizza, his daughter said. Sensky left them to return to his hotel on Canal Street because he felt cold, she said.
Sensky-Kirsch said others could see the attacker coming and were able to run out of the way, but her father “was stuck on the road.” His wheelchair can be seen in some images lodged against a crane.
When he didn’t return to the hotel, they went to look for him, she said.
“We thought he was dead,” Sensky-Kirsch said. “We can’t believe he’s alive.”
“I didn’t know if I was going to make it here, and everyone helped me out. I’m all put back together again,” Sensky told ABC News. “I’m happy to be alive, man.”
Ryan Quigley
Montgomery County native Ryan Quigley, 26, was in New Orleans to celebrate the New Year with his friend and former teammate on the Princeton University football team, Louisiana native Tiger Bech, who was killed in the attack.
Bech, a 27-year-old native of Lafayette, Louisiana, who found a job in New York after graduation, had come to New Orleans to show the city to Quigley, a first-time visitor.
Quigley’s mother told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday that her son remained hospitalized in stable condition, declining to comment on the extent of his injuries.
Bech and Quigley are pictured together in a GoFundMe set up by the families that aims to help Bech’s family with funeral costs and help Quigley with medical expenses.
“To provide an update, Ryan is doing okay,” the Quigley family said in an update to the GodFundMe on Thursday. “He is stable and resting in the company of his family and friends. Thank you all so much. Ryan loves you all. Please keep the Bech family, the other families, and all of those affected by this tragedy in your prayers.”
Quigley graduated from Lansdale Catholic High School in 2016, where he was a football standout. He was voted two-time MVP of the Philadelphia Catholic League while playing multiple positions for the Crusaders.
In a statement, Lansdale Catholic said Quigley is “one of those young people that makes you incredibly proud to call him one of your own.
“The collective hearts of our close knit high school community are hurting for him and his family as we pray for his healing.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
