Dad Tried to Keep Daughter ‘Calm’ as Helicopter Plunged 500 Feet to Ground. After Crash, She Asked, ‘Are You Alive?’

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• A father struggled to keep his daughter “calm” when the helicopter they were on crashed about 150 meters down in Utah’s Wasatch County earlier this week.

• All four people on board survived, but the young woman, Oaklee Toone, suffered a head injury.

• “This is literally my worst nightmare,” Toone’s sister, Baylee Demars, said when she learned of the accident.

The family said that a father was consoling his daughter after the helicopter they were riding in fell almost 150 meters to the ground in Utah over the weekend.

All four people on the plane survived, but the young woman was airlifted in critical condition.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Baylee Demars told NBC affiliate KSL learning that his father, Kory Toone, and sister, Oaklee Toone, had been in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 18.

“This is truly my worst nightmare,” Demars said.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to PEOPLE that Sunday afternoon, around 3:10 p.m. local time, a Bell 206L carrying four people crashed near a highway in Wasatch County.

The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office said local authorities received a report of the crash and were able to locate the helicopter 100 yards off State Route 35. expression.

“One person was critically injured and transported to the hospital by AirMed for treatment of a head injury,” officials said. “The remaining ones were evaluated at the scene.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an ongoing investigation. A spokesman for the agency said the crime scene phase of the investigation has been completed and a preliminary report is expected next month.

The final report is expected to be available within one to two years.

The emergency landing brought an abrupt end to a fun trip for the Toones and their close friends (the pilot and his wife), KSL reported.

Kory had begun recording the flight on her cell phone, and both she and Oaklee were seen smiling in the video.

However, the father then dropped his phone when the helicopter lost control of the pilot and began to roll towards the ground, according to KSL.

The recording continued, and Demars was later able to listen to recorded audio before the helicopter crashed near Wolf Creek Campground.

“One thing you should know about my dad is he’s a rock star,” Demars told KSL. “When I hear that he coaches my sister through this and makes her keep her calm, they both think they’re going to die, and he keeps her calm.”

At the end of the recording, Demars hears Oaklee say to their father, “I’m alive. I’m alive. Dad, are you alive?”

“He answered and it was like music to my ears,” Demars told the outlet. “I’m so glad to hear they can talk.”

Nearby snowmobilers, one of whom was a nurse, witnessed the plane land and assisted the passengers until first responders arrived.

KSL reported that Kory was recovering from serious chest injuries and that his daughter had hit her head.

The pilot helped save everyone on board, Demars said.

All four people are now out of the hospital, and he called it a “miracle,” KSL reported. Still, his sister has a long recovery ahead of her, prompting Demars to start a new venture. GoFundMe.

“He works tirelessly to support himself and this head injury will leave him without income for some time,” Demars wrote in the fundraiser. “The looming cost of AirMed and medical bills are definitely stressful for him.”

As the family heals, they are grateful to have more time together.

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“What you experience when you think you’re about to die is you don’t think about what you have,” Demars told KSL. “You think about people, your family, your friends, your loved ones.”

He added, “My father expressed that that’s what he had in mind.”

Read the original article People