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Bystanders are being praised for their quick action after a medical helicopter crashed onto a highway in East Sacramento on Monday evening. The helicopter, carrying a pilot, a paramedic, and nurse Suzie Smith came down just feet from passing vehicles, but fortunately no drivers were injured. Sacramento Fire Department crews arrived within minutes and called on nearby motorists to help lift the wreckage, freeing Smith, who’d been trapped under the helicopter.
Video recorded by Terry De Crescenzo shows her husband, Ken, and more than a dozen others rushing toward the crash to help lift the aircraft by hand. Another witness, Priscilla Cochran-Navarra, was among the first to reach Smith, comforting her and assuring her she was not alone while emergency teams worked to extract her. Cochran-Navarra says the group’s teamwork showed the power of unity.
All three crew members were taken to the hospital, where they remain in critical condition. Smith’s family told reporters they are praying for her recovery and grateful to the strangers who helped save her life. The bystanders who rushed to help say they don’t consider themselves heroes, just people doing what needed to be done. Many expressed pride in seeing their community come together in a moment of crisis.
Source: ABC 10