Firefighters are ready to deal with matters of life and death on a daily basis. So in a way, it was appropriate that I attended the FDNY Calendar Event last week, when I was dealing with matters of life and death, also. But the FDNY Calendar is also about men showing off their abs, so that was a little less appropriate. Still, an effective distraction can be useful in trying times.

Gita Sellei with a Firefighter

I joined Gita Sellei of Distract TV and four friends at the Firehouse, a sports bar on the Upper West Side for the NYFD Calendar Charity Event. Gita soon persuaded all the firefighters present to remove their shirts, pose for pictures and sign our calendars. I acquired such choice inscriptions on my calendar as, “The only pole we’ll be working with is the one in my pants,” and “I’ll be happy to put out your fire any time.” Unfortunately someone purloined my calendar, which had my name all over it. If you buy your own calendar, part of your purchase will support the Burn Centers of New York.

Wrestler Veve Lane lifting a firefighter

New York Firefighters receive around 14 calls per day, and between those, they clean and check equipment, cook, eat, and judging by their appearance, work out a lot. Although there were none at this event, the Fire Department strongly encourages women to become Firefighters.

“How do you get chosen to be in the calendar?” I asked one of the firemen.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “You send in a picture and this old guy who’s a photographer chooses.”

The older gentleman is philanthropist and acclaimed photographer, Alan Batt, otherwise known as Battman. He started the calendar as a way to raise money for charities, and is also known for photographing the city and food. Proceeds from his book, "Street Eats," published last year, go toward Action Against Hunger.

Battman started shooting the FDNY Calendar in 1996. As well as showcasing New York’s Bravest, the calendar shows the landscape of NYC, with backgrounds from the Freedom Tower to the Bronx Stadium. It costs from 12.93 to 19.95, depending on where you purchase it. As always, The Burns Center of New York receives a part of the proceeds.

Me, a Firefighter and Christina Oden, who has organized previous FDNY Calendar Events

Photos of Firehouse Event by Gita Sellei

Azaleas at Savill Garden

Having a heart attack is something one is never prepared for. But unlike other life changing events, such as childbirth, instead of leaving one awed by the miracle of life on earth, it leaves one shocked by the fragility of human existence.

My mother's right hand

Last Friday, my mother called me saying she felt unwell, and wanted to see me, urgently. That night, I flew from New York to London. When I arrived at her house, she wanted something to help her breathe, so we called NHS 111. After refusing an ambulance twice, my mother agreed to let them come.

The paramedics said that my mother was having a heart attack. They turned on the sirens and raced to Harefield Hospital, one of the UK’s leading heart hospitals.

My mother's left hand

My mother, who had always refused medical treatment whenever possible, now lay strapped to a cot with tubes coming out all over. She lifted the oxygen mask briefly to say, “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

“There’s going to be a lot of fuss when we arrive,” said a paramedic. “Just go with it.”

Medical staff wheeled my mother into the operating room and paramedics said the angioplasty would take about half an hour. In fact, the surgery took upwards of two hours, during which I threw up three times in the hospital bin.

The doctor told me he had placed two stents in my mother’s heart and that it looked quite good, but that things could go either way in the first twelve hours. Tubes and wires threaded from her body to bags of liquid, an oxygen tank, and a monitor that dinged intermittently, bringing sudden visits by nurses.

A bird I tried to save

Near my mother's house, I found an injured bird, which I failed to nurse back to health, and a sick hedgehog, which I had no idea how to help. I saw rabbits frolicking in the horse’s field and wondered why life came with its promise of lush exuberance, and later drained it all away.

Elizabeth

I met a new family member, Elizabeth, and saw in her face what we have all felt at times: wonderment at being alive. My mother is at home now, happy to be here, and hoping that what has been wonderful in life will continue to be so.

My mother in more carefree days