A 10-year-old boy has been labeled a “superhero” after he selflessly saved his little sister from a plane crash in Philadelphia while risking his own life.
On Friday evening, an air ambulance plummeted from the sky shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6.06 PM local time, heading to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, before continuing on to Mexico to return an 11-year-old patient and her mother.
The Learjet 55 had only been airborne for less than a minute before the disaster, which killed all six people on board and one person on the ground.
Andre Howard, 10, had been in the car getting doughnuts with his dad and two siblings when the plane crashed nearby.
His father, also called Andre Howard, told ABC 6 Action News that his son had immediately sprung into action to protect his little sister, despite getting injured himself.
Andre Sr. explained: “Heard what we thought was a car crash, but then you see a fury of fire in the air, then a bunch of debris shooting everywhere.
“My son … tells his little sister, ‘Get down!’ And he grabs her [as] I hear the glass shatter. I turn around, there’s a piece of metal sticking out of my son’s head from the plane.”
A bystander who’d seen what happened quickly ran over, took the shirt off his own back and used it to apply pressure to the boy’s head before a city police officer rushed him to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where doctors operated immediately.
Andre Sr. added: “They told us my son wasn’t supposed to make it. They also told us, ‘They don’t do children trauma.’ But they did for us, which was nothing but God.”
Andre Jr.’s mother, Lashawn Hamiel, revealed that while it was heartbreaking seeing her son injured, she was proud of him for saving his sister from harm, explaining: “As a mother what am I supposed to do?
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“But he’s good. He’s pushing through. He’s strong, he’s a jokester, but he’s strong. He’s a superhero.”
His father also shared his pride for the 10-year-old’s selfless actions, telling the station: “To face death yesterday and speaking today, stepping up for his little sister, like I train him and his other little brothers to do off of instinct — he’s my hero.”
Lashawn added that doctor are keeping her son stable and comfortable while they work out how to proceed with treating him.
At least 22 people were injured in the crash, with seven people dying in the tragic incident.
The victims on board the plane were named as Valentina Guzman Murillo, 11; her mother, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31; Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales; co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez; Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo; and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, while the victim who lost their life on the ground has yet to be publicly identified.
Valentina had been on her way back to Tijuana after having had life-saving treatment at Shriners Children’s Hospital for complications from spinal bifida including pressure sores.
Susan Marie Fasino, who’d helped the “very frail” young girl, wrote on Facebook: “The plan was to bring them home to live out the rest of her life surrounded with love and with her adoring family.
“Her mother was one of the most adoring attentive mothers a child could ever have. She literally never left her side.”
Shriners spokesperson Mel Bower added that those who’d treated Valentina were also deeply affected by the tragic news, saying: “It’s extremely hard and extremely difficult, those that were involved directly in her care were very aware that she was going to be traveling home and there had actually been a sendoff for her today.”
The circumstances of the crash are now being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board after the plane’s black box was recovered, reportedly from eight feet below ground.
