A few months ago, a medical plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia near Cottman and Roosevelt Boulevard, and Andre Howard III was hit while attempting to protect his sister from the debris.
At the time, his father, Andre Howard Jr., 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.”
Andre was in the car with his father, younger brother, and sister at the time. Howard recalled glass from the debris sticking out from his son’s head, causing him to bleed. Howard had before then drove his truck backward to dodge the debris and saw cars engulfed in flames, a man on fire, and others soaring through the air.
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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.
Doctors are now in awe of the 10-year-old’s recovery; his resilience has impressed many.
Andre spent more than a month enduring many operations and tests at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) after the January 31 tragedy. Because of the damage from the crash, physicians had to perform incisions, according to his mother, Lashawn Hamiel.
“By the time we got to CHOP, they told us he was going to be paraplegic because he had no feeling,” she recently told WPVI.
Against all odds, Andre began to heal. His mood was improved by visits from family members as well as Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“I think it’s the new me,” Andre remarked. “Because I got better at my game and basketball.”
He re-learned how to walk as part of his physical therapy, and he is now working on regaining his left side’s fine motor skills for activities like tying his shoes and cleaning his teeth.
“When they first told me [I wouldn’t walk], I was sad. But now I’m not,” he stated. “I can move everything.”
Andre was quick to respond when asked what he wanted people to learn from his experience.
“You have to work hard and always protect people,” he said.
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