A young boy suffered severe injuries to his head while protecting his sister from debris from the medevac jet that crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood last Friday.
Yet, when 10-year-old Andre III regained consciousness after being brought to the hospital, the first thing he did was ask about his sister Ayura. “Did I save her from the crash?” he asked.
His father, Andre Howard Jr., couldn’t be any prouder. The father narrated that he was driving to Dunkin’ Donuts for their weekly evening snack tradition after picking up his three kids from school when they heard a “really loud boom.”
Howard told CNN, “we saw a fireball that covered the whole entire sky.”
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Howard described how he drove his truck backward to dodge the debris and saw cars engulfed in flames, a man on fire, and others soaring through the air.
During the confusion and fear, the father said he heard his 10-year-old son instruct his 4-year-old sister, Ayura, to get down before diving on top of her to protect her from the falling debris.
Upon inspecting the rear seat, Howard discovered that his daughter and another son, who was seven years old, were unharmed, but Andre had a metal object stuck in the right side of his head.
Howard recalled the emotional scene, saying, “I see my unconscious son with a piece of metal in his head. I got out of the truck and put a sock on his head, and as I moved him, the metal piece fell, and he was gushing out blood.”
While Howard turned his attention to Andre, another woman took care of the other children, and a man hurried over to give Andre his shirt to help stop the bleeding.
The hospital’s medical staff later informed Howard that Andre may never be able to walk again and that his vision might be compromised.
Andre was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in stable condition after surgery and a CAT scan. Since then, he has been making improvements. His father stated that he should be able to walk and that his vision is fine.
In an interview with WPVI, Andre’s mother, Lashawn Hamiel, stated that medical professionals are trying to keep her son stable and comfortable while they determine what to do next.
Hamiel lamented, “My baby in there, it’s hard seeing him like that. As a mother, what am I supposed to do? But he’s good. He’s pushing through.”
However, she added, “He’s strong, he’s a jokester, but he’s strong. He’s a superhero.”
The boy’s father also added, “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.”
Meanwhile, the six people aboard the twin-engine medevac were killed when it crashed, along with one person in a car on the ground. According to CNN, Mayor Cherelle Parker reported that at least 24 individuals were hurt on the ground, and four of them are still in the hospital.
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