The Joy of Giving

Firefighter James Carroll"s most gratifying reward seems to be no more than a smile. Since the 1990s, Carroll, 39, and his fellow firemen have made special Christmas Day visits to burn, cancer and emergency room patients at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, singing Christmas carols and handing out toys. When Carroll joined the team, he initiated a toy drive, soliciting donations at holiday parties and elsewhere. â??James always brightens things up with the good presents, said Kenny Ruane, a fellow fireman who dresses up as Santa Claus for the children at the hospital. â??We always have more than enough toys because James knows so many people. The cheerful visit â??helps our patients focus on the warmth and love of the holiday seasonâ?¦ and get through their hospitalization, said Dr. Roger Yurt, director of the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York-Presbyterian. Carroll worked alongside Ruane for Engine 39, Ladder 16, on East 67th Street, for 14 years until retiring in March 2007. His career as a firefighter ended abruptly after he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a systematic inflammatory disease that, his doctors think, stems from two months of post-9/11 excavation work at Ground Zero. But Carroll rarely thinks about his own condition, instead coming up with ways to better the lives of others. â??Life isn"t about him, Ruane said of his friend. â??He"s what we call a stand-up guy in the firehouse. If you needed help, he"d be there in a second. Carroll credits his parents with teaching him altruistic values through action rather than words. He remembers as a child joining his mother delivering meals for Catholic charities. Nowadays, he and his family regularly shop for underprivileged families in his Merrick, Long Island, community. He is also helping to organize a family festival benefit and 5K walk next fall for Purple Heart Pups, a group that brings therapy dogs to recovering service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Proceeds will go to America"s VetDogs, which supplies service dogs to disabled war veterans, and to the National Amputation Foundation, which aids veterans in readapting to society. Carroll used to lead his colleagues in drills for children who took day trips to the East Side firehouse. â??He"s really good at getting down to a kid"s level, Ruane said, describing how Carroll stoops to a child"s level, speaks in a soft voice and becomes animated. â??He makes them feel comfortable right off the bat. After handing a Christmas gift to a young cancer patient at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Carroll recalls the child"s grandparent saying, â??We haven"t seen her smile in weeks. Thank you so much. â??You feel on top of the world, he said of such moments.