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Jordan Wells' eyes swelled with tears Tuesday as she clutched a friend's hand and sat facing the helicopter crash site where she nearly lost her life as four others perished.
Wells, 18, of Waldorf was the lone survivor of the Sept. 27, 2008, Maryland State Police Trooper 2 helicopter crash in District Heights' Walker Mill Regional Park. Wells returned to the park Tuesday in honor of National Emergency Medical Services Week to recognize the emergency medical servicemen who tried to save her and a friend's life following a Waldorf traffic accident.
National Emergency Medical Services Week, held May 17 through May 23, honors EMS workers who risked their lives to save others. The memorial service at Walker Mill Regional Park was a stop during one leg of the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Bike Ride to Roanoke, Va., from Tarrytown, N.Y.
The ride will end 6 p.m. Saturday at Roanoke's National Emergency Medical Services Memorial. About 130 officials from the state, Prince George's County and Maryland-National Capital Park Police rode one leg of the ride to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers concerning the "Public Safety Officer Bill" which would ensure non-governmental EMS workers receive death benefits.
Bunker's, Lippy's and Wells' families, as well as Wells, still visibly shaken, declined to comment for the press.
The trail from Berry Lane through Walker Mill Regional Park, which led the three Maryland State Police officials who first found the crash victims, was lined with the names of multiple emergency service workers across the nation who died while trying to save a life.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Mike Perkins, one of the first people to find the crash victims, said they have returned to the site for a few memorial services but said Wells could not even attend her friend Younger's funeral. Wells lost her right leg as a result of her injuries and wears a prosthetic. Her left arm was stiff and bandaged with white tape against a board.
"You don't need to come back here to remember but it brings everything to the forefront," Perkins said.
Perkins said Wells is a courageous young woman and said he often visited her in the hospital during her recovery.
"She's become our little sister," Perkins said. "She contacts us with good news and bad news. When she started putting weight on her leg, she called us."
Commander A.J. McAndrew of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command said the Maryland State Police has not had a loss as significant in 22 years. Since 1970 a total of nine police aviators were lost.
McAndrew called Bunker and Lippy "outstanding professionals." He said Bunker dedicated his life to flying helicopters and saving lives as both a trooper and civilian pilot. McAndrew had just pinned Lippy's paramedic wings in 2008 after he completed his flight training.
McAndrew said Maryland State Police testified in Annapolis during the Maryland General Assembly session, which ended in April, and received $52.5 million to purchase replacement helicopters and an additional $600,000 to make changes to the current fleet such as installing electronic location transmitters and night image vision systems.
The night of the accident, Bunker and Lippy picked up Wells and Younger, who were both in a traffic accident, as well as Mallard, and were en route to Prince George's Hospital Center. Weather conditions forced the helicopter to head toward Andrews Air Force Base instead where an ambulance was waiting for Wells and Younger.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Bob Adams said contact with the helicopter was lost sometime after midnight. Adams said the crash is still under investigation but it appears it was not mechanically or structurally related. At the start of the park trail, a sign is still posted to contact Maryland-National Capital Park Police if any debris from the crash is found.
Mark Brady, a Prince George's County Fire and EMS Department spokesman, said bits of metal can still be found at the site and the jet fuel still rises through the ground after it rains. But Tuesday, where wreckage once lay, a wreath of roses and sunflowers stood instead, including a memorial and pictures of the victims above a silver helicopter rotor blade.
Dave Page, a representative of the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Bike Ride, expressed his condolences to Bunker and Lippy's families and said they felt their pain "mile by mile."
"We ride with our hearts heavy, but we ride with our feet light," Page said.
E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.
