‘Disabled’ NY Firefighter Draws Heat for Grappling Aspirations
Jake Rossen Jul 27, 2010
There are times when chasing the dream of cagefighting is better
left alone. Sean Gannon,
a Boston police officer, seared his own butt to the third degree in
his precinct when footage of his gym fight with Kimbo Slice made
headlines in 2004; now The New York Post reports
that a NYC firefighter collecting disability is smashing heads
in his spare time.
Joe Giuffrida, 42, retired from firefighting seven years ago after doctors declared his work at Ground Zero left him with unresolved asthma; Giuffrida has collected a $75,000 tax-free pension every year since. In attempts to maintain his health, he said, he’s taken up scuba diving and grappling -- the latter with enough determination to earn a bronze medal in the North American Grappling Championships in New Jersey this past spring.
"It is completely different than running into a building that is on fire with a smoke condition and toxins in the air," he told the paper. One “source” put it more succinctly: “He’s scamming the city.”
Giuffrida isn’t doing himself many favors by claiming he’s too ill to perform one grueling activity at the same time he’s doing something even more physically taxing, but he does have a point: chemicals, smoke, and other irritants that could irritate his lung ailments aren’t usually present in grappling competitions. And the Post, which is as objective as a criminal defense attorney, sells him out by declaring NAGA “almost no holds barred.”
He might have fewer friends in the department, but I say that anyone risking their ass to that degree is entitled to stretch the system. A pension shouldn’t sentence you to life on a couch.
Joe Giuffrida, 42, retired from firefighting seven years ago after doctors declared his work at Ground Zero left him with unresolved asthma; Giuffrida has collected a $75,000 tax-free pension every year since. In attempts to maintain his health, he said, he’s taken up scuba diving and grappling -- the latter with enough determination to earn a bronze medal in the North American Grappling Championships in New Jersey this past spring.
"It is completely different than running into a building that is on fire with a smoke condition and toxins in the air," he told the paper. One “source” put it more succinctly: “He’s scamming the city.”
Giuffrida isn’t doing himself many favors by claiming he’s too ill to perform one grueling activity at the same time he’s doing something even more physically taxing, but he does have a point: chemicals, smoke, and other irritants that could irritate his lung ailments aren’t usually present in grappling competitions. And the Post, which is as objective as a criminal defense attorney, sells him out by declaring NAGA “almost no holds barred.”
He might have fewer friends in the department, but I say that anyone risking their ass to that degree is entitled to stretch the system. A pension shouldn’t sentence you to life on a couch.
