Funerals begin for chopper crash victims
A funeral was held Monday morning for a nurse killed in last week's medical helicopter crash. Another victim- a 1-year-old girl- will be laid to rest this afternoon.
William Mann was one of four people who died when the copter went down in Aurora last Wednesday night.
Mann was a nurse and was on board the helicopter as it flying a 1-year-old girl to Childrens Memorial Hospital for treatment.
It was an emotional day in Norridge. Hundreds of people came to Divine Savior Church to pay their respects and to remember Mann. First there was a prayer service Monday morning at a funeral home in Norridge.
Mann had worked for the Air Angels medical transport service since July. He was a flight nurse and he worked for Air Angels for about a year prior to that. Many of his fellow crew members were wearing arm bands Monday with the names of all four victims from last week's crash.
The medical helicopter struck a guy wire on a radio tower in Aurora and crashed in a nearby field, killing everyone on board last Wednesday.
From the funeral home, police led a lengthy procession along with a fire truck draped in purple bunting to the Divine Savior Church in Norridge, where inside Mann was remembered as brave and willing to risk his life to help others.
"He is one of the right hand people of the company. Sometimes people would ask me, doc, what do you think about this or that? I said heck, I don't know, talk to Bill Mann. It's not I don't know. Billy was a very intelligent, bright, young nurse, an up and comer in his field," said Dr. Michael Galle, Air Angels medical director.
"He risked his life for a baby girl to have a chance to live. I think that's something that Bill would do any day. I don't think he would think twice about it," said Lt. David Blondell, Norwood Park Fire Department.
The 1-year-old, Kirstin Blockinger, suffered from seizures, and she was being transported to Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago when the chopper went down.
Blockinger is also being laid to rest Monday. Her service begins in DeKalb at noon.
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