Authorities in New York City say a man who tried to jump to his death from his ninth floor apartment was saved by a heap of trash bags that had gone uncollected since last week's blizzard.
Fire officials say the 26-year-old was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan shortly after noon on Sunday. He was listed in critical but stable condition.
Vangelis "Angelo" Kapatos landed on his back after jumping from his ninth-floor window. No one was home and he left no note, the New York Post reported.
His aunt, Katharina Capatos, who spells her name differently, told the New York Post it was lucky the city had the snow and hadn't cleared the garbage.
She also said Kapatos had spent around a month at Bellevue Hospital's psych ward after a nervous breakdown and had only been released on Wednesday.
"I think he's lonely," Capatos, 64, told the Post. "I think he has manic depression."
She said her nephew told her recently that he was worried about being evicted from his $572-per-month rent-stabilized apartment.
Kapatos reportedly contacted his lawyer, Charles Small, on Friday with concerns about a court hearing set for Monday. His landlord is reportedly trying to evict him.
"I told him there's nothing to worry about, that his landlord has no case," Small told the Post. But, he said, "I have no idea" if he got the message.
The city resumed garbage pickup on Monday for the first time since the Christmas weekend blizzard dumped over 20 inches of snow on the city.
