Big-hearted Westchester teen finishes veteran hall beautification project in time for Memorial Day — after freak accident
Joseph Mana, 18, was nearly done fixing up the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Yorktown Heights, installing planter boxes, pressure washing the building and refinishing a bench, for an Eagle Scout project in October when he took a break to return to school, he and his father told The Post.
'It was supposed to be done in time for Veterans Day — but then tragedy struck,' his dad, Ed Mana, said.
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12 Yorktown Heights teen Joseph Mana made improvements to a local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall for his Eagle Scout project.
Douglas Healey for NY Post
12 Mana working on the project with fellow scout Louis Tuccitto.
Edward Mana
12 Mana told ThePost he selected the VFW project to give back to the veterans who fought for our country.
Edward Mana
12 The VFW hall before the beautification project began.
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The teen, who was active in Boy Scouts troop 173, was playing touch football in fourth period gym class when another student accidentally slammed into his left leg from the side as he leaned back on it, Mana said.
The impact and strange angle dislocated his knee and damaged a main artery behind it.
'I was in a lot of pain and shock,' Mana said. 'The top of my knee was indented down at an angle.'
12 Mana suffered a nasty knee injury in gym class in October — delaying his Eagle Scout project.
Edward Mana
12 The accident dislocated Mana's knee and injured an artery behind it.
Edward Mana
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He was rushed to an emergency room, where doctors explained he needed surgery immediately to fix the artery.
'After they popped it back into place, they said it could be something wrong with the vascular side,' Mana said.
For the next four months, the teen was forced to remain hospitalized while he recovered from three surgeries — including to repair the artery, remove pins from his ACL and fix a tendon.
12 Mana had to spend four months in the hospital after the accident.
Edward Mana
12 The high schooler was eventually released from the hospital in Mach.
Edward Mana
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12 Mana is set to study computer science at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in the fall.
Edward Mana
Ed Mana, 52, said it was hard to check his son into Blythedale Children's hospital in Valhalla knowing he'd likely be there for months.
'When you have to leave [your kid] there, it's like you're leaving someone in jail. There were tears,' he said.
As the months passed, the teenager celebrated Halloween, New Years 'Day and his 18th birthday at the hospital.
'I was upset and annoyed I couldn't see [my friends],' Joseph Mana said.
12 Mana working with his father Ed on the VFW project while wearing a knee brace.
Douglas Healey for NY Post
12 The repairs at the VFW hall will be finished just in time for Memorial Day.
Douglas Healey for NY Post
He even applied to colleges while on painkillers and confined to the medical center.
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'I told him if you don't get in, you should write the college a letter later and say, 'I was high but not for the normal reasons,'' Ed Mana said.
Finally, in March the teen was released and advised to do physical therapy twice a week and to wear a knee brace for the next year and a half.
12 Mana willl unveil the newly renovated VFW hall after Yorktown Heights' Memorial Day parade.
Douglas Healey for NY Post
Over the weekend, he returned to complete the vets project, which will also include a flag box, and will be unveiled in a ceremony after the town's Memorial Day parade Monday. Mana is expected to give a short speech.
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'Vets deserve this because they fought for our country, so we should spend our time helping them too,' he said.
Since his accident, Mana has been accepted to SUNY Polytechnic Institute, where he plans to study computer science.
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