Paramedic injured while responding to Kodak Center crash is out of the hospital

UPDATE: Julie Purick has been released from the hospital, URMC confirms.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Julie Purick, the paramedic who was injured while responding to the deadly crash at the Kodak Center on New Year’s Eve, is finally able to breathe on her own.

Roc City EMS, the union that represents the city’s emergency medical workers, says her breathing tube is out and she is no longer on a ventilator. A statement from the union says: “This is significant progress but she has not completed her recovery just yet and remains in the hospital.”

Purick was one of two paramedics taken to Strong Hospital after the crash. She was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. A GoFundMe page has raised over $20,000 so far to help with Purick’s medical bills and monthly bills while she is in the hospital.

The fiery crash killed three people, close friends Joshua Orr from Webster and Justina Hughes from Geneva along with the driver who investigators say intentionally crashed his rental car.