The Review

Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: News

Paul Conticelli (right) was on Spring Break in Cancun with fellow SigEp brothers, including Joe LaBruno (left), when he was hit by a car.

The first night of sophomore Paul Conticelli's Spring Break in Cancun started out normal enough. He went clubbing and had some drinks with his Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers - but everything changed within a few hours.

At approximately 4 a.m. on March 25, Conticelli was crossing the street with his fraternity brother, junior Mark Ptomey, when he was struck by a car.

"I just remember the bus dropped us off like a mile away from our hotel and we got off without even noticing," Ptomey said. "As we were crossing the street, a car struck him by the median and sent him flying through the air."

Since neither Conticelli nor Ptomey were carrying cell phones, Ptomey had to flag down cars to get help. After officials told him he could not ride in the ambulance with Conticelli, Ptomey went back to the hotel to collect Conticelli's personal information and wake up their roommate, Conticelli's "big brother" in SigEp, senior Joe LaBruno.

"Mark came back to the hotel room around 4:30 in the morning and he woke me up and he just kept on saying 'Paul was hit by a car. Paul was hit by a car. He's in the

hospital,' " LaBruno said. "I had been sleeping so I was kind of in a daze. I didn't really understand what he was saying at first and it finally hit me."

Conticelli was first taken to a clinic and then transferred to a hospital because of the severity of his injuries, he said. He suffered from severe head trauma, which led doctors to put him into a medically-induced coma since the extent of the damage was unknown.

Conticelli's mother, Paula, said she felt numb when she received the news from LaBruno, but knew she had to get down to Mexico as soon as possible.

"I lost a child four years ago. I lost Paul's brother on March 17, so it was surreal," she said. "I literally flew out of the bed and just knew it was major."

Paula arrived in Cancun Sunday night and said she was amazed by the support she received from StudentCity, the travel agency the SigEp brothers used to book their trip, and the brothers themselves.

"[The brothers] never left the hospital," she said. "They took turns sleeping in the lobby."

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools