Carley McCord's Husband Reveals Her Last Message To Him Before Fatal Plane Crash

The husband of a sports reporter who died in a small plane crash in Louisiana over the weekend missed the last phone call his wife made to him. Steven Ensminger Jr. told Sports Illustrated he was at work when his wife Carley McCord called and texted to say she loved him before she boarded the plane to Atlanta to watch LSU's football team in the Peach Bowl on Saturday.

McCord, 30, was one of five people who died when the Piper twin-engine prop plane went down about a minute after takeoff in Lafayette, Louisiana. A bystander pulled a sixth person out of the wreckage, and he was listed in critical condition.

Ensminger, son of LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, told Sports Illustrated over text messages he didn't have his phone with him while he was working at a nitrogen facility when McCord tried to reach him. "I don't have my phone and she sends me a message saying she loved me," he told Sports Illustrated.

The younger Ensminger was rushed to a hospital and given sedatives after he learned of his wife's death, according to Sports Illustrated. "I was in and out of a nightmare, not being able to tell what was real and what wasn't," he told the magazine.

"I can remember laying in the hospital bed repeating myself saying it wasn't real and then one of the hardest things I'm dealing with is that I missed her text and I missed her call," Ensminger said. "It is by far the most pain, angst and terror and just darkest time of my life and I honestly don't know how long it will last because I still don't believe it. I don't want to believe it."

On Instagram, Ensminger changed his bio to say, "I'll never be the same with out you Carley! You are, and will forever be my world!"

First published on December 30, 2019 / 11:27 AM

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