Jean Philidor, a 38-year-old carpenter, spends his days hammering nails, lifting heavy beams, and building the infrastructure that keeps New York City’s economy humming.
From the runways of Kennedy Airport to the hospitals of Staten Island, Jean’s work has touched many landmarks around the city. It’s the kind of labor that demands strength, precision, and resilience—the kind of job where one can’t afford to be distracted by pain. Or, so Jean thought, until a seemingly minor injury threatened everything for which he had worked.
In early March, at his Valley Stream home. Jean was walking through a doorway when the doorknob unexpectedly caught his palm. The injury seemed trivial at first—just a little pinch, a slight red mark. As a construction worker, he had experienced his fair share of bumps and bruises, and he thought little of it. The following days unfolded like any other: Jean went to work, didn’t think much of the pain, and carried on with his projects at JFK, where he was working on a major renovation…