A Springfield mother who lost her two children in a deadly plane crash in 2012 is now taking action. She's doing something she says could save other families from the grief she's been through.
You can walk into a room in a place like Advanced Ultrasound Solutions in Springfield and have your heart checked.
That's what that Georgia Marshall is trying to get more teens to do. She says it could've kept her daughter from going through open heart surgery before she died.
Georgia's daughter McKinley was just 12 years old when they found out she had a hole in her heart. McKinley survived the open heart surgery, but didn't survive a plane crash. She was 15 when the private plane went down near Willard in 2012. The crash killed her, her two brothers, father, and his girlfriend.
And while Georgia says she's still coping with the grief, she says she knew she had to do something when she woke up from a dream. “About a year ago McKinley came to me in a dream and I’ve been very mad at God. I didn't understand why the kids had to be taken, but she came to me in a dream and she said mom, I know what you're supposed to do, and I remember looking at her and saying what, sissy? And she said, you know my heart, what we went through, you're supposed to try to save other kids. When I woke up, I knew. I just knew."
That's why Georgia and Advanced Ultrasound Solutions are now starting Midwest Heart Check.
They say they'll be going to different schools to try and get heart checks to become a part of sports physicals to help save other kids.
It costs about $150 for teens to get their heart screened through the company. But Georgia says they also have a foundation where you can donate that will help families who can't afford it to get the exam. Just log on to our website at kspr.com and click on “newscasts links” to find where to go to help.
Story and video: http://www.kspr.com
Pictured: John Lambert and his three children - Grayson, McKinley and Joshua - were killed in the plane crash. This photo was uploaded to Grayson's Twitter account on Friday night, September 14, 2012.
Robin Melton was also killed:
Robin E. Melton
http://registry.faa.gov/N436KS
NTSB Identification: CEN12FA633
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, September 15, 2012 in Willard, MO
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/05/2013
Aircraft: CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22, registration: N436KS
Injuries: 5 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot was conducting an instrument landing system approach in night instrument meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. Radar track data indicated that the airplane crossed the final approach course near the initial approach fix, about 11 miles from the runway. The airplane drifted through the localizer about 0.25 mile before crossing the localizer again and drifting about 0.25 mile to the opposite side of the localizer. The airplane flightpath then paralleled the localizer briefly. The track data indicated that the airplane entered a left turn, which resulted in about a 90-degree course change. About that time, the pilot requested radar vectors to execute a second approach. The airplane entered a second left turn that continued until the final radar data point, which was located about 420 feet from the accident site. During the second left turn, about 9 seconds before the final radar data point, the pilot transmitted, "I need some help." The data indicated that the accident airplane descended at an average rate of 6,000 feet per minute during the final 10 seconds of data. No further transmissions were received from the pilot. The airplane impacted an open area of a lightly wooded pasture located about 6 miles north-northwest of the destination airport. A witness reported hearing an airplane engine surge to high power about four times, followed by what sounded like a high speed dive. She heard the initial impact followed by an explosion. The postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any preimpact failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The location and condition of the airframe parachute system were consistent with partial deployment at the time of ground impact. Based on the performance information depicted by the radar data, the pilot's request for assistance, and examination of the airplane at the accident scene, it is most likely the pilot became spatially disoriented in night meteorological conditions and subsequently lost control of the airplane.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's loss of airplane control as a result of spatial disorientation experienced in night instrument meteorological conditions.
http://www.ntsb.gov
