Student Injured In NYC Attack Went Back To School The Next Day To Keep Up His Perfect Attendance Record

Stuyvesant High School is a brisk 10-minute walk from our Manhattan office — so the fact that two of its students were injured in Tuesday's attack feels even heavier than it normally would.

But the New York Daily News brought us a feel-good story today, one that, at least on the surface, serves as evidence of that mythical New York City resilience: One of the students who were injured when a man plowed a rented truck into their school bus went back to school the very next day, in order to keep up his perfect attendance record.

"One of the students that was on the bus, we all assumed would not come back the next day," New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said during a Thursday-morning visit to the school with Mayor Bill de Blasio. "What he told his mother is he had to go to school because he was working on 100% perfect attendance."

The 16-year-old was admitted at the hospital with minor injuries, but was soon released and went home. Although his school bus didn't show up the next morning since the school had assumed he'd be taking the day off, his mom took a car service from Brooklyn to Manhattan to help him get to school, Fariña said. "That’s what New York is all about."

Stuyvesant, or Stuy, is the most selective of nine specialized high schools in New York City, and has a famously challenging college-prep curriculum.

The other student who was injured, a 14-year-old girl, is unfortunately still in the ICU at Weill Cornell Medical Center. A family member told the NYDN that she has not regained consciousness.

The New York Police Department released the names of the victims shortly after the attack. Eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured.