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Firefighters Receive Heartfelt Thank You
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San Diego Union Tribune via YellowBrix
November 07, 2009
Little and Harold Reed, 91, friends for 50 years, were in Reed’s pickup truck when it plunged 500 feet down a ravine Oct. 12.
Reed died 10 days later at a hospital. Little suffered broken knuckles, cuts and bruises.
Reed’s widow Betty, 86, and Littlewent to San Diego Fire-Rescue Air Operations Base at Montgomery Field, where they shook hands with and expressed their gratitude to the firefighters and crew of Copter 2 who pulled both men to safety.
Soft-spoken Reed blinked back tears as she held the hands of firefighter Shannon Mueller, an engineer with Engine 22, the first rescue crew at the scene.Reed said it made her feel good to know that everyone worked so hard to save her husband and that she appreciates everything they do. She brought a framed shot of Copter 2 that her husband, a pilot and photography buff, had taken, and she presented it to the crew.
Pilot Chris Hartnell said it took just three minutes from the time they plucked Reed out of the canyon to get him to the UCSD Medical Center. Lindbergh Field held a departing flight to clear the flight path for the chopper.
Little described the rescue efforts as “absolutely perfect.”
Little and Reed went to the national park in Point Loma to take pictures, Little said. They first parked in one space but then moved to a cliff-side space to get a better view.
Reed, who was driving, accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brake, sending his 2003 Chevy pickup over the curb and down the steep hill.
The truck rolled over twice, turned onto its side, then rolled at least four more times before it finally stopped near the bottom of the canyon. It was upside down with both men still in seat belts, the air bags deployed.
