Friend, Family, Medical Community Mourn Loss of EagleMed Crash Victims

By Adrianna Iwasinski, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Many across the metro are mourning the loss of pilot Al Harrison and flight nurse Ryan Duke, while also, praying for the recovery of the sole survivor of a EagleMed helicopter crash, Michael Eccard.

The medical community is a tight knit group, and the EagleMed team is no different. They said they consider each and every person they worked with a member of the family, and now they are all still trying to deal with the tragedy.

"It's tough for someone who doesn't work in our business to understand the family that we become. We spend 24 hours a day with each other," said David Macy, chief flight paramedic for the Oklahoma City EagleMed crew.

Macy said he knew all the men on board the chopper that crashed into a field in Kingfisher county. He and pilot Al Harrison were one of the original EagleMed crews.

"Al never had a person that wasn't a friend," Macy said.

The 56-year-old pilot was a single dad from Edmond who Macy said loved his daughter and loved to fly. Harrison had been employed with Eagle Med for nearly 10 years and used to fly in Stillwater before being transferred to Oklahoma City.

"He was just one of the sweetest most caring guys you could ever find, and my crews tell me he was one of the best pilots we've ever had," said Iva Ballard, EagleMed Executive VP.

Flight Nurse Ryan Duke joined EagleMed less than a year ago and was a nurse for OU Medical Center for years. The 35-year-old was from Oklahoma City and leaves behind a wife and two young sons.

"Ryan was one of my best friends," Macy said. "Ryan was one of those people that you could meet for 30 seconds and you had a friend for life."

An outpouring of love and support has gone out to Duke's family on his Facebook page as friends and family share their stories as well as their condolences.

"His family was the world to him, and second was the fact that he was getting to fly across and save peoples' lives," Macy said. "He died doing what he loved."

Michael Eccard, the sole survivor of the crash, used to be a paramedic with EMSA before joining the EagleMed team.

"Mike is just like one of my brothers, just like Ryan was excellent guy, excellent clinician. If I were laying hurt in Oklahoma, I'd feel no better than to look up and see one of them getting ready to go to work on me," Macy said.

Eccard will definitely not be alone when doctors get ready to go to work on him and his recovery. His EagleMed family said they plan to be there with him.

"It's going to be a long recovery for him, but we'll be by his side every step of the way," Macy said.

Macy said his thoughts and prayers are with all the families.

A memorial to accommodate a large gathering is being planned, but details are still pending.

A fund has been set up for the crash victims. The EagleMed918 Crew fund is set up at Commerce Bank and the fund is also linked on EagleMed's Web site as well.

More:

• 2 Dead, 1 Injured in Medical Helicopter Crash
• Officials Look at 'Man, Machine, Environment' to Determine Cause of EagleMed Crash
• EagleMed Officials Say They Hope to Learn from Crash