Eli Kulp Plans to Open NYC Eatery in Fall

Eli Kulp, left, photographed by Gene Smirnov before the accident. The accident, right, shot by AP.

Eli Kulp, the chef in injured in the deadly Amtrak accident in Philadelphia, still plans to open a New York eatery this fall — even though the accident left him paralyzed.

“My dream was to come from the West Coast, learn how to cook in New York and to eventually have a restaurant in New York,” he told the New York Post. “That dream has come true. Obviously it’s coming to fruition in a different way than expected.”

Kulp’s interview with the Post was his first since the May crash that killed eight people. Kulp said he left work at the restaurant Fork early to get home to New York.

When the accident happened, ““I flew across and hit the opposite luggage rack with my neck and then all that sort of flaps on top of me,” Kulp said. “I immediately knew I was paralyzed. I tried to start moving and I couldn’t.”

Kulp has a long recovery ahead.

“When you’ve had a severe injury it’s hard to know what that recovery is going to be,” said Howard Riina, vice chairman of neurosurgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, and who treated Kulp. “With Eli’s type of injury, it’s quite possible and most likely that he’s not going to walk again and he’s going to have limited, if any, use of his hands.”

Kulp has filed a negligence lawsuit against Amtrak.