The pilot, nurse and paramedic on board a medical helicopter that crashed onto Sacramento’s Highway 50 remained in critical condition Tuesday at UC Davis Medical Center.
Family and friends of the nurse have identified her as Suzie Smith, a flight nurse who they said had a passion for serving others.
The Reach 5 Medical Air flight had just dropped off a patient at UC Davis Medical Center and had just begun heading north back to Redding when it went down.
“She is tough as nails and goes day in and day out on these flights and shows up to these horrific accidents and is the first responder,” said a friend of Suzie’s, Joseph Anfuso.
Miraculously, not a single driver on the highway got hurt when the helicopter came crashing down.
“Honestly, I just started crying because it just seems like it happens to the best people,” said a friend of the victim, Mary Beaver.
Suzie’s friends said that her care goes beyond the Northern California communities, but across the world. She is a Christian woman dedicated to being a medical missionary, regularly making trips to Nicaragua to serve the poorest part of the Latin American country.
On these trips, her team performs over 100 surgeries from tumors to cleft lips in a matter of days.
Suzie also went to Sri Lanka with Anfuso to help people after the tsunami.
“She is a dedicated follower of Jesus, and I don’t think she would be doing anything she was doing had she not had that relationship with Jesus,” Anfuso said.
Family of Suzie’s echoes the same sentiment and shared this statement with CBS13:
“We would like to take the time to sincerely thank the first responders on scene as well as the everyday citizen heroes that jumped into action to help lift an entire aircraft off of Suzie so she could begin receiving immediate care at the scene. Truly amazing.
We would also like to thank the Reach Medical family for their overwhelming support of Sue and our family during this difficult time. She has a great love of her Reach Family including the pilots, medical staff, mechanics, administration and support staffs.
We are receiving calls and messages from all over the country and even the world sending their thoughts and prayers. Suzie is a medical missionary in her spare time and has spread the word of Jesus around the world.”
“These are amazing people who do this every day,” said Beaver. “They help people.”
Loved ones are now asking for prayers for the recovery of all three who were on board.
Wednesday, Reach Air Medical Services officially identified all of the crew members involved in the crash: Chad Millward, the pilot, Margaret “DeDe” Davis, a paramedic, and Suzie Smith.
The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash.
