Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

-- R. Burns Epistle to a Young Friend

Monday, May 14, 2012

Austin Anderson

Ron Luce is a minister known for his Teen Mania organization, a Christian outreach to youth.  His daughter, Hannah, and four young men were flying to one of Teen Mania's "Acquire the Fire" rallies in Council Bluffs, Iowa when the small plane crashed and began to burn.  Three of the plane's occupants apparently did not survive the initial crash: 

The pilot, 23-year-old Luke Sheets died at the scene, as did 29-year-old Garrett Coble, and 22-year-old Stephen Luth.  

The fourth man in the fire, 27-year-old Iraq War veteran and former Marine Austin Anderson, pulled Hannah Luce from the wreckage and walked with her to a nearby road.  She has burns over 28% of her body.  Ninety percent of Anderson's body was covered in burns.  He later died in a Wichita, Kansas hospital.  Hannah Luce is stable and will survive.

Initial reports are often a little misleading, but it sounds likely that Anderson might have survived had he not stayed in the burning aircraft to help his friend.

You can read other reports HERE and HERE (pictures of the young men included).
 
Join me in prayers for the families of Luke Sheets, Garret Coble, Stephan Luth, and Austin Anderson, as well as for Hannah Luth's recovery.    


7 comments:

julie said...

Prayers going out. What a terrible loss for all those families; I hope and pray Hannah will survive.

mushroom said...

I guess this resonates with me in part because our daughter was burned in an accident when she was a child and spent a long time in the hospital and recovery. Fortunately, her burns, though third degree, were confined to a relatively small area of her abdomen and thigh. She became a very good-looking woman, but she never wore bikinis.

The burn unit of a hospital is one of the most challenging places you can visit.

julie said...

I believe that about the burn units. Of all the injuries the body can suffer, I'd have to imagine serious burns are among the worst. I'm very glad your daughter was able to recover, Mush.

Hopefully, Hannah's in a place where they can provide her with some of the new treatments I've heard about - instead of skin grafts, now it's possible to make a spray out of the patients skin cells that, when applied to a burned area, can actually re-grow skin. I don't know how effective it is on really deep burns, but the results I've seen for at least one person it was tried on were almost miraculous.

John Lien said...

Oh, that is so sad. Prayers sent.

Liza said...

It's amazing to me how someone with burns over 90% of his body could rescue a fellow passenger, and then they both were able to walk to get help...RIP, Mr. Anderson....you're truly a hero.

Rick said...

Terribly sad. Prayers...

mushroom said...

Interesting to hear about new developments in burn treatment. Grafts are so painful.

Tragedy and heroism go hand in hand.