‘It’s devastating’: Kentucky community remembers medical helicopter crew killed in crash

GRANT COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) – The people of Grant County are dealing with the sudden loss of those three first responders.

Tuesday morning, Grant County Judge-Executive Chuck Dills ordered all county flags to be flown at half-staff in their honor.

Dills told WKYT that this tragedy is one of those losses you don’t plan for. He went on to say the accident is just devastating for the entire county.

He didn’t know the three first responders but saw them in passing. Dills says the Air Evac Lifeteam frequently flies out of the helipad in Williamstown, which is next to Saint Elizabeth Hospital Healthcare.

“It’s devastating and heartbreaking and it was just the… Evac is such an asset first responders to our community and region and the response and helps the community our condolences goes out to the family and evacs team of their loss,” Dill said.

Dry Ridge Constable and Firefighter Michael Neidigh knew the three crew members Bethany Aicken, Gale Alleman and James Welsh. He met them on the scene of several 911 calls.

“Great and professional, down to earth and laid back and willing to help you out the best they can,” Neidigh said. “All they did was care about their job. They loved their job.”

Neidigh and other Dry Ridge citizens are still trying to process what happened.

“It was just a freak accident. It was just crazy to hear when I got the phone call about it… I didn’t know how to respond to it. I was a little shocked,” Neidigh said.

A few miles away in downtown Williamstown, the county seat, you will notice there’s no shortage of honor.

“We can look back in our past and that blessing of the past reaches out to touch our future,” Neidigh said.

Inside the Kentucky Y’all Icebox, this ice cream shop puts an emphasis on honor. Monday through Friday, they express their appreciation for their community heroes, and on Fridays, they celebrate first responders.

“It keeps our community safe to appreciate them, and it sets an example for the younger generation about who to look up to,” said shop owner Rachel Morse.

Morse knows a scoop of ice cream won’t take away the pain the city is feeling right now, but she knows there’s something she can do to help the entire first responder community.

“I think after tragedies, you think about who can I bless?” Morse said. “How can I move forward differently than yesterday?”

So now Morse will expand her love for community heroes. She will begin to offer discounts to the families of first responders.

She knows it’s not a big deal but it’s her way of showing honor.

“It’s one way. One small way,” Morse said.

We have a statement from the Saint Elizabeth Grant Hospital:

We are heartbroken by the news of the tragic helicopter crash last night involving Air Evac Lifeteam 133. based adjacent to St. Elizabeth Grant Hospital, Air Evac Lifeteam 133 has been a critical extension of our emergency services since 2016. The flight crew members were well known to our Grant County team and others in our system, and their work has been invaluable to the entire community. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and friends of the three heroic flight crew members who lost their lives last night in service to their community.

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