Rotorcraft Crash Unites Victim, Emergency Personnel
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The sun was shining. There was little wind. Silas F. Smith, 43, Cedar Lake, was with his children at the Mentone Rotorcraft Convention Fly-in. He and James Bodie, Aiken, S.C., decided to go up in Smith's gyroplane to take advantage of the great day.
But the great day didn't last forever as tragedy struck the two men.
Smith's gyroplane started to drop. Smith could feel something wrong with the aircraft as the craft fell closer and closer to the ground. They tried everything but to no avail.
"We were trying to save it all the way down," Smith said.
Nothing they did prevented the ultimate crash. Smith said they waited about 10 minutes, injured on the ground, before help arrived. Both men survived.
Fast forward to March 20, 1999.
Smith returned to Mentone Saturday to reunite with the men and women who saved his life less than a year before. One of those people he reunited with was First Responder Lori Miller.
"He wanted to come back and thank everybody," Miller said Wednesday.
Mentone Fire Department was hosting a fish fry and the EMS was holding a bake sale. After a while volunteering at the fish fry and bake sale, Miller invited Smith home for dinner.
Miller waited with Smith at the crash site on the day of the crash until the paramedics and Samaritan helicopter arrived. She held his head and neck straight, held his hand and prayed for him.
"I honestly believe God had me there as an angel," Miller said.
Smith said, "Lori was so reassuring and so helpful. I don't know how to explain it."
Miller and Smith, who never met each other before the accident, made a connection that day. They continued to stay in touch after the accident. Miller even called Smith at the hospital to check on his progress.
"I've talked to him a lot on the phone, I've sent him a lot of cards," she said. "It was just a touching experience for me. I'm just thankful God had me there that day,"
Smith said, "Well, she was a first responder, I guess she was supposed to be there. I was sure glad she was there.
"When you're lying there and not knowing if you're going to live or die, you want someone to hold your hand."
Miller remembers that Friday as well as Smith remembers the crash.
She was taking clothes off the clothesline. A gyroplane flew low nearby. She said she remembers thinking, "I said, thank God this week is about over with."
She took the basket of clothes into her house and that's when the emergency tone went off. A gyroplane went down. EMT Tony McKinney and Miller were the first medical personnel to arrive on scene at CR 500S, Mentone. Several passersby were at the accident scene.
"I'm a very deep Christian lady and I pray every time I get in that ambulance," Miller said.
Once on scene, they found Bodie first. Miller said she didn't think he was alive at first and she couldn't believe the injuries she saw, but he wasn't dead.
"With those little man-made machines, you never know what to expect," she said.
They then discovered Smith.
She said, "I just said, 'Oh, dear Jesus!' I never saw such twisted bodies in my life."
Bodie was the worse of the two, Miller said. McKinney stayed with Bodie. Paramedics were called.
"I knew I couldn't leave (Smith). I just couldn't leave him," she said.
The Samaritan helicopter was called to KCH, but that wasn't good enough for the trauma doctor at the airport - Dr. Bill Clem. He insisted the helicopter land in the bean field.
"They had Jamie loaded up back up in the back of our ambulance," Miller said.
And as they awaited the helicopter, Miller said, "I just kept talking to them. I just knew it could go either way. I knew that he could die, but I prayed that he would live. I didn't know if there were any internal injuries. I prayed in his face.
"I was with him the whole time and it seemed to take forever."
She said there were many respondents to the scene who helped Smith and Bodie survive the disaster. She said the Warsaw paramedics, the Fulton County paramedics and the Mentone Fire Department all assisted with the crash.
"We worked so hard together that day," Miller said.
Smith said, "At the time of the accident, you don't realize how many people are there, but you don't focus on anything but the ground."
Smith isn't limping now, but he has scars and will have to go back into surgery.
"I'm doing pretty good," Smith said. "I'm walking around."
Next month, Smith said doctors will probably take the rod in his femur out. He said they were afraid it will damage his knee if they don't take it out.
Miller said Bodie is already flying again. But Smith doesn't know when or if he will ever get back up in a plane.
"We'll just take it one step at a time," Smith said.
"That is one of the accidents that will change the outlook of your life.
"I'm extremely grateful for all the help the paramedics offered out there."
Smith said the cause of the crash is still undetermined. He said he doubted the FAA will ever determine a cause because they have stopped investigating the case.
Iend
Health Officials Give Tips For Safe Egg Handling
BY DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer
At Easter, children will be searching for hidden eggs at churches, schools, homes and parks as part of a long-standing Easter day tradition.
There will also be egg hunting on the White House lawn.
But even before the Easter eggs get painted, parents may want to take some precautions to prevent food poisoning.
"The big thing you have to worry about with eggs is salmonella," said Kosciusko County Health Administrator Bob Weaver.
Salmonella is a family of bacteria occurring in the intestinal tracts of human, animals, birds, reptiles and insects. There are more than 1,200 different members or types of salmonella and all are capable of producing the disease salmonellosis, according to information released by the Indiana State Board of Health, Division of Retail and Manufactured Foods, Indianapolis.
Symptoms of salmonella infection include fever, cramps, diarrhea and sometimes vomiting, according to the state health board. While the disease is generally not fatal, it can be dangerous for young people, senior citizens and persons already weakened by illness.
Weaver said the best way to prevent Salmonella is to thoroughly boil the eggs to kill the bacteria. Bacteria need a moist favorable temperature of between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees to reproduce as well as time to multiply, according to the state board of health.
"As long as those eggs are hardboiled, they should be okay," Weaver said.
He also said the shell should be kept intact. An egg with a cracked or broken shell could increase the chances of bacteria. Weaver said he recommends the eggs be refrigerated until use.
"There's a high percentage of eggs that have salmonella. You really need to kill it by cooking it," said Weaver.
Another way to protect children from salmonella is to be careful about the eggs one buys at the store.
"I would get them as fresh as I could," Weaver said.
He said he did not believe there was a law to take outdated eggs off shelves and expiration dates are just for consumer benefit. Egg producers do not have to date their products, he said.
The American Egg Board, Park Ridge, Illinois, released information on additional tips to help prevent bacteria in eggs.
Their recommendations include: washing hands thoroughly before handling eggs at every step; storing them in their cartons in the refrigerator if dyeing the eggs will not immediately commence; not coloring or hiding cracked eggs; using water warmer than the eggs and refrigerate them in cartons right after coloring; and consider hiding eggs carefully.
Eggs should not be hidden in areas where the eggs will come into contact with pets, wild animals, birds, reptiles, insects or lawn chemicals.
If the eggs will not be eaten after found, they should be refrigerated.
AEB recommends consumers buy AA- or A-graded eggs from refrigerated cases only because eggs lose quality rapidly at room temperature.
Once home, the egg consumer should discard any eggs that are unclean, cracked, broken or leaking. The best place to put the eggs in the refrigerator is in the inside shelf. They should be stored with the large end up to keep the yolk centered.
Raw shell eggs refrigerated in their cartons will keep for about four to five weeks beyond the pack date without significant quality loss, AEB reports.
In Kosciusko County, Weaver said there were five to six cases of Salmonella a year, but they could not determine if the bacteria came from eggs or other food products.
"We get a couple of cases of salmonella reported to the health department every year. It's very hard to track from where it came from," said Weaver.
In information provided by the American Egg Board, the chances of finding an egg that has been infected with bacteria is estimated at less than 1 in 10,000 to 14,000, in areas of the country where food poisoning cases have been reported. [[In-content Ad]]
The sun was shining. There was little wind. Silas F. Smith, 43, Cedar Lake, was with his children at the Mentone Rotorcraft Convention Fly-in. He and James Bodie, Aiken, S.C., decided to go up in Smith's gyroplane to take advantage of the great day.
But the great day didn't last forever as tragedy struck the two men.
Smith's gyroplane started to drop. Smith could feel something wrong with the aircraft as the craft fell closer and closer to the ground. They tried everything but to no avail.
"We were trying to save it all the way down," Smith said.
Nothing they did prevented the ultimate crash. Smith said they waited about 10 minutes, injured on the ground, before help arrived. Both men survived.
Fast forward to March 20, 1999.
Smith returned to Mentone Saturday to reunite with the men and women who saved his life less than a year before. One of those people he reunited with was First Responder Lori Miller.
"He wanted to come back and thank everybody," Miller said Wednesday.
Mentone Fire Department was hosting a fish fry and the EMS was holding a bake sale. After a while volunteering at the fish fry and bake sale, Miller invited Smith home for dinner.
Miller waited with Smith at the crash site on the day of the crash until the paramedics and Samaritan helicopter arrived. She held his head and neck straight, held his hand and prayed for him.
"I honestly believe God had me there as an angel," Miller said.
Smith said, "Lori was so reassuring and so helpful. I don't know how to explain it."
Miller and Smith, who never met each other before the accident, made a connection that day. They continued to stay in touch after the accident. Miller even called Smith at the hospital to check on his progress.
"I've talked to him a lot on the phone, I've sent him a lot of cards," she said. "It was just a touching experience for me. I'm just thankful God had me there that day,"
Smith said, "Well, she was a first responder, I guess she was supposed to be there. I was sure glad she was there.
"When you're lying there and not knowing if you're going to live or die, you want someone to hold your hand."
Miller remembers that Friday as well as Smith remembers the crash.
She was taking clothes off the clothesline. A gyroplane flew low nearby. She said she remembers thinking, "I said, thank God this week is about over with."
She took the basket of clothes into her house and that's when the emergency tone went off. A gyroplane went down. EMT Tony McKinney and Miller were the first medical personnel to arrive on scene at CR 500S, Mentone. Several passersby were at the accident scene.
"I'm a very deep Christian lady and I pray every time I get in that ambulance," Miller said.
Once on scene, they found Bodie first. Miller said she didn't think he was alive at first and she couldn't believe the injuries she saw, but he wasn't dead.
"With those little man-made machines, you never know what to expect," she said.
They then discovered Smith.
She said, "I just said, 'Oh, dear Jesus!' I never saw such twisted bodies in my life."
Bodie was the worse of the two, Miller said. McKinney stayed with Bodie. Paramedics were called.
"I knew I couldn't leave (Smith). I just couldn't leave him," she said.
The Samaritan helicopter was called to KCH, but that wasn't good enough for the trauma doctor at the airport - Dr. Bill Clem. He insisted the helicopter land in the bean field.
"They had Jamie loaded up back up in the back of our ambulance," Miller said.
And as they awaited the helicopter, Miller said, "I just kept talking to them. I just knew it could go either way. I knew that he could die, but I prayed that he would live. I didn't know if there were any internal injuries. I prayed in his face.
"I was with him the whole time and it seemed to take forever."
She said there were many respondents to the scene who helped Smith and Bodie survive the disaster. She said the Warsaw paramedics, the Fulton County paramedics and the Mentone Fire Department all assisted with the crash.
"We worked so hard together that day," Miller said.
Smith said, "At the time of the accident, you don't realize how many people are there, but you don't focus on anything but the ground."
Smith isn't limping now, but he has scars and will have to go back into surgery.
"I'm doing pretty good," Smith said. "I'm walking around."
Next month, Smith said doctors will probably take the rod in his femur out. He said they were afraid it will damage his knee if they don't take it out.
Miller said Bodie is already flying again. But Smith doesn't know when or if he will ever get back up in a plane.
"We'll just take it one step at a time," Smith said.
"That is one of the accidents that will change the outlook of your life.
"I'm extremely grateful for all the help the paramedics offered out there."
Smith said the cause of the crash is still undetermined. He said he doubted the FAA will ever determine a cause because they have stopped investigating the case.
Iend
Health Officials Give Tips For Safe Egg Handling
BY DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer
At Easter, children will be searching for hidden eggs at churches, schools, homes and parks as part of a long-standing Easter day tradition.
There will also be egg hunting on the White House lawn.
But even before the Easter eggs get painted, parents may want to take some precautions to prevent food poisoning.
"The big thing you have to worry about with eggs is salmonella," said Kosciusko County Health Administrator Bob Weaver.
Salmonella is a family of bacteria occurring in the intestinal tracts of human, animals, birds, reptiles and insects. There are more than 1,200 different members or types of salmonella and all are capable of producing the disease salmonellosis, according to information released by the Indiana State Board of Health, Division of Retail and Manufactured Foods, Indianapolis.
Symptoms of salmonella infection include fever, cramps, diarrhea and sometimes vomiting, according to the state health board. While the disease is generally not fatal, it can be dangerous for young people, senior citizens and persons already weakened by illness.
Weaver said the best way to prevent Salmonella is to thoroughly boil the eggs to kill the bacteria. Bacteria need a moist favorable temperature of between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees to reproduce as well as time to multiply, according to the state board of health.
"As long as those eggs are hardboiled, they should be okay," Weaver said.
He also said the shell should be kept intact. An egg with a cracked or broken shell could increase the chances of bacteria. Weaver said he recommends the eggs be refrigerated until use.
"There's a high percentage of eggs that have salmonella. You really need to kill it by cooking it," said Weaver.
Another way to protect children from salmonella is to be careful about the eggs one buys at the store.
"I would get them as fresh as I could," Weaver said.
He said he did not believe there was a law to take outdated eggs off shelves and expiration dates are just for consumer benefit. Egg producers do not have to date their products, he said.
The American Egg Board, Park Ridge, Illinois, released information on additional tips to help prevent bacteria in eggs.
Their recommendations include: washing hands thoroughly before handling eggs at every step; storing them in their cartons in the refrigerator if dyeing the eggs will not immediately commence; not coloring or hiding cracked eggs; using water warmer than the eggs and refrigerate them in cartons right after coloring; and consider hiding eggs carefully.
Eggs should not be hidden in areas where the eggs will come into contact with pets, wild animals, birds, reptiles, insects or lawn chemicals.
If the eggs will not be eaten after found, they should be refrigerated.
AEB recommends consumers buy AA- or A-graded eggs from refrigerated cases only because eggs lose quality rapidly at room temperature.
Once home, the egg consumer should discard any eggs that are unclean, cracked, broken or leaking. The best place to put the eggs in the refrigerator is in the inside shelf. They should be stored with the large end up to keep the yolk centered.
Raw shell eggs refrigerated in their cartons will keep for about four to five weeks beyond the pack date without significant quality loss, AEB reports.
In Kosciusko County, Weaver said there were five to six cases of Salmonella a year, but they could not determine if the bacteria came from eggs or other food products.
"We get a couple of cases of salmonella reported to the health department every year. It's very hard to track from where it came from," said Weaver.
In information provided by the American Egg Board, the chances of finding an egg that has been infected with bacteria is estimated at less than 1 in 10,000 to 14,000, in areas of the country where food poisoning cases have been reported. [[In-content Ad]]